[SB 191 

112 D4 

Copy 1 



CORN CULTURE 



BB 




/febif Methods 
Versu s O id 



Trtce One Dollar 




'By WILLIAM G. DEARING 

LOl/J^VILLE, KENTX/CKy 



CORN CULTURE 



NEW METHODS VERSUS OLD 



By 

WILLIAM G. DEARING 

LOUISVILLE. KENTUCKY 




Louisville, Kentucky 
JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY 

INCORPORATED 
1913 






COPYRIGHT, 1913 
By William G. Dearing 



©CU332215 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Chapter Page 

I. The Farm 5 

II. The Corn Field 8 

III. Drainage 10 

IV. Origin of Soil 16 

V. Litmus Paper and Testing Soil 19 

VI. Green Manure 21 

VII. Organic Matter 25 

VIII. Crop Rotation 31 

IX. Manure 38 

X. Plowing 47 

XI. Dinner and Canned Goods 51 

XII. Seed Corn 56 

XIII. Planting and Cultivation 68 

XIV. Feeding the Plant 72 

XV. Lime 75 

XVI. Phosphorus 84 

XVII. The Germ Theory and the State Fair 91 

XVIII. Corn Raised per Acre — Mr. Whitney 's Theory 

of Soil Fertility 97 

XIX. Education — Postscript to Letter 103 

XX. Conclusion 104 



CORN CULTURE 

CHAPTER I 

THE FARM 

About the middle of September, 1912, I was sitting on 
the veranda in the front of my house, looking at the beau- 
tiful landscape along the Ohio River, between the hills on 
the Kentucky side and the hills on the Indiana side. The 
house is on a small ridge in the center of four hundred 
acres of land, some ten miles from Louisville, Kentucky. 
In the distance could be seen the smoke hanging over the 
populous and energetic city, and the gentle Ohio, winding 
its course at the foot of the Indiana hills. The reddened 
leaves on the trees and the changing color of the corn, in- 
dicating that the year's work was nearly done, and the 
singing and twittering of the birds on a nearby beech, 
which broke the silence and serenity of the bright morning, 
all made the scene one not easily forgotten. 

On the south side of the farm the L., H. & St. L. Rail- 
way runs, and the St. Louis Limited, with its excellent 
train of Pullmans, had just passed; on the north side of 
the farm is the Illinois Central Railroad, and the Panama 
Express with its fine vestibuled train was just passing. A 
little distance beyond is the old Louisville & Nashville Turn- 
pike, along which the traffic from the Ohio River Crossings 
passed South before the days of railway transportation, and 
where now runs the interurban electric road, extending 
from Louisville to Orell. An interurban car could be seen 
for a distance of two and a half miles, and just as I was 
looking over the valley north, I saw the electric car coming 
down its road from Louisville and stop at Finley Station. 

A gentleman got off, and after talking with another 
gentleman standing near, he started in the direction of my 
home. He was soon near the house, and I saw it was my 
old friend Doc Saunders, who was a client of mine when I 
lived in the good old town of Flemingsburg. Doc com- 



6 CORN CULTURE 

menced life a poor man, and being the possessor of a fine 
mind he soon was a successful trader, and is to-day a very 
wealthy man. It has been my pleasure to know a number 
of men, and to count them as my friends, and it has always 
been a great privilege to have known Mr. Saunders. As he 
approached, I left the veranda to meet him. ' ' How do you 
do, Doc? How are you, any way? This is indeed a great 
pleasure, and I am so glad to see you." 

Saunders. I am very well, Drenan, and I am as equal- 
ly glad to see you. You are looking well, and I am so glad, 
Will, to see you enjoying such good health. 

Drenan. Let us go to the house, where we can sit down 
and rest a little, and I know you will enjoy a good cold 
drink of water. I will call the hired boy, who can go down 
and pump some water. You know we have a natural gas 
well here, which furnishes the power to pump the water for 
the stock, the house, and the farm. 

Saunders. This is, indeed, a great convenience, and 
should add greatly to the value of your farm. I wish I 
had one on my farm in Fleming County. 

Drenan. I told the boy to pump a lot of water out, so 
you would have it pure and cold, and here he comes. You 
see this water percolates through the sand, and the bottom 
of the well is below the water in the Ohio River, and I be- 
lieve it is as pure as we can find. 

Saunders. It is indeed fine, and cold. What a great 
beverage! Water is the only drink fit for the human race. 
I cannot understand why any man would want beer, ale, or 
wliiskey, when he can get such water as this. Alcohol dead- 
ens the nerves, impairs the efficiency of the different organs, 
and is a curse to all who use it. 

Drenan. I see you are tlie same old Doc. You were al- 
ways a prohibitionist. As you have always had such a clear 
head, been so healthful and made such a success of life, I 
am not going to discuss prohibition with you. I expect I 
am as much of a crank on the subject as you are, and I 
don't believe there would be much chance to get up a dis- 
cussion on the subject. Of late years. Doc, I have become 
very much interested in scientific agriculture, and I want 
you to tell me of your successes on the farm, that I may 
profit by them. 



THE FARM 7 

Saunders. I have heard of your success as a corn 
raiser and a renewer of soil fertility, and while I was in 
Louisville I thought I would come down to your farm and 
see your corn in the field and talk over old times with you, 
and learn what I could. 

Drenan. You pay me a high compliment, indeed, and 
I assure you I appreciate it very much, but I expect you 
Avill teach me more than I can tell you; nevertheless, we 
will talk over corn culture and many other things while 
you are here, and maybe we can be of mutual advantage. 

Saunders. ' Is this the field back of the house where it 
is said you have such a fine crop of corn? It certainly 
looks all right. Let us go out and look at it. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CORN FIELD 

Drenan. Yes, It contains eight acres, and I consider 
it a very fine piece of corn. We will take a walk through 
it, so you can see it on close inspection. Here is your hat, 
and we will go through the yard and out the gate nearest 
to it. You see the land is a sandy loam, and easily culti- 
vated. 

Saunders. Look here, Drenan, here is a stalk of corn 
with four big ears on it. This is out of the ordinary. Here 
is another with three. Why, look at the great number with 
two large ears on the stalk! I am surprised. When your 
foreman came to Fleming, and told of the great corn crop 
on your eight-acre field, I thought he was exaggerating 
some. Seeing, however, is believing. It is indeed wonder- 
ful. I don't understand how you could raise such a crop 
on this land. I saw it a year ago and I was not much im- 
pressed with it. The crop is extraordinary. 

Drenan. I am glad you think it so good. I want to 
show you something you never saw before. I have a won- 
der for you to see. It is a stalk of corn with eight ears on 
it, five are large ears and three are small. It is phenom- 
enal. It is on the north side of the field. I want you to 
see it. As we go, you can see what a fine crop of cow-peas 
I have in the corn. 

Saunders, These are fine cow-peas, and before I go 
home I want you to explain why you put cow-peas in your 
corn. Indeed, I want you to explain in detail how you 
raised this big crop of corn. 

Drenan. Here is the stalk with eight ears on it. You 
see the three largest ears are highest up. The fourth and 
fifth are not as large as the sixth, seventh, and eighth. The 



THE CORN FIELD 9 

eighth ear is of good size. Nature has some way crossed 
herself. The stalk is a freak. I don't exactly understand it. 
Saunders. Who would have thought it? Look! the 
lowest ear is nearly as big as the top one. You have fine 
big ears on the stalk, and each is as large as the ordinary 
ear on corn. If a man had an acre like that he would raise 
at least three hundred bushels on it. My recollection of 
this field is that it was wet and cold, and I thought the 
probabilities of raising anything on it were remote. 



CHAPTER III 

DRAINAGE 

Drencm. This field was wet and cold when you saw it. 
I had just bought the place and had commenced to im- 
prove it. The first thing 1 did was to make two big ditches 
through the field so as to take off the water. The greater 
part of the field was wet and soggy. The ditches had 
stopped up, and the water could not go off. After making 
the two ditches, 1 made small transverse ditches so the 
water could lead off' at once. You would be surprised at 
the transformation of soil in one year. I consider good 
drainage one of the most important things in raising a 
bounteous crop. If water stands in the land for any length 
of time, the land is virtually ruined so far as the raising of 
a crop is concerned. 

Saunders. Why is this, as water is necessary in the 
raising of any crop 1 It looks as if the more water we have, 
the better crop we should raise, although I know cold, wet 
land will not produce anything. 

Drenan. You know that chemistry has enabled us to 
learn many things we did not know. Oxygen in the air is 
necessary for animal life, and it is also necessary for plant 
life. Oxidation is always going on in the interior during 
plant life, and the plant is continually consuming a small 
quantity of oxygen and throwing off a small quantity of 
carbonic acid gas. When plants have green leaves, they 
absorb carbonic acid gas and evolve oxygen. It is as much 
necessary for the plant to have oxygen as the human being. 
Put a human being below the water and he drowns; like- 
wise put an ordinary plant below the water and it dies. 
When you shut off free oxygen from reaching the plant 
roots, you strangle the plant and it dies. When water 



DRAINAGE 11 

stands on soil and it becomes cold and wet, deoxidation is 
active, the nitrates present are destroyed, and most of the 
nitrogen passes off in gas. The soil will consequently suf- 
fer a considerable loss of plant food by lack of drainage. 
There can be no soil ventilation in cold, wet land, and be- 
fore any crop can be grown on it, it must be well drained. 

You can not revive a piece of worn-out land until it is 
thoroughly drained, either by surface ditches or tiles. The 
more ditches you have the better, it does not matter wheth- 
er the v^ater stands on it or not. There can be no danger 
in having too many. If they are surface ditches, they 
should be deep enough to have thorough drainage at once. 
This enables one to plow deep, to pulverize the soil, to con- 
serve the soil moisture, to promote soil ventilation, to en- 
courage the deep rooting of all plants, and to give the 
proper temperature to soil. Compact and cold soils are not 
conducive to plant growth. The plant roots cannot find 
room enough in which to grow. 

Saunders. Why, Drenan, you really surprise me with 
your full knowledge of agriculture. You talk like an old 
farmer. You are a lawyer, and I would like to know how 
and why you have become so interested. 

Drenan. Yes, it is true that I am a lawyer, and I make 
my living by practicing law. I once had a case for a rail- 
road involving the rates on phosphate rock from the Mt. 
Pleasant mines in Tennessee to the Ohio and Mississippi 
River Crossings. These rocks are taken from the mines to 
the different factories and are treated with acid and other 
ways and are then sold to the farmer as fertilizers. In the 
study of the case, I learned that these rocks had to be 
treated with sulphuric acid before the alum and the iron 
in these rocks became soluble so that plant life could reach 
the phosphate and potash in them. Alum and iron are very 
insoluble, and they are very hard to release from the rock. 
The rock is sold according to the percentage of alum and 
iron in them. If they have a large amount, the rock is al- 
most worthless. The smaller the amount of these, the bet- 
ter price the rock brings. 

I became very much interested, and this gave me a de- 
sire to make more investigations, and I have been keeping 
it up. I took a course of study in chemistry under Pro- 



12 CORN CULTURE 

fessor Parks in the Manual Training School in Louisville. 
I made quite a number of experiments under him, and I 
have been able to experiment with the different elements 
and to know the effect of combinations. It was an inter- 
esting study, and has been of great service to me. When 
I use the word "oxidizing" or "deoxidizing," I know just 
what is meant. I do not see why all the common schools in 
the country do not have chemistry in all the grades, so that 
the knowledge of the subject would be thorough, full, and 
complete. 

Upon learning that sulphuric acid was used to release 
the alum and the iron in phosphate rock, I conceived the 
idea that there was some way that this acid could be made 
and used by plowing under a green crop of plant life. We 
will talk of this a little later, as I have some things to show 
you that will convince you that I know what I am talking 
about. I am so fully impressed with the importance of 
thorough drainage that I am going to tell you a little more 
about it. 

It takes lot of work to get a piece of cold, compact, and 
poorly drained land in proper condition to work. It has to 
be done late in the season, and is then very poorly done. 
Proper drainage prevents water standing in the low places 
on the farm, and will thus prevent the land from becoming 
sour, and, of course, unproductive. When we have plenty 
of drainage we can easily put the soil in perfect condition 
as to porosity, deepness, and pulverization, and these enable 
us to resist drouth as well as floods. When the soil is in 
good condition, made so by thorough drainage, as soon as 
the seed is put into the ground it takes deep root, and ob- 
tains more moisture and food, and is consequently a more 
finished product. I say again that you cannot reclaim a 
worn-out soil until you have perfect drainage, either sur- 
face or tiling. It is absolutely necessary, and it cannot be 
impressed too much upon any one desiring to obtain the 
best results. 

The ancients understood the importance of drainage, 
and practiced it. Marcus Porcius Cato died one hundred 
and forty-nine years before the Christian Era, and in his 
work, "De Re Rustica," he said, in regard to drainage, as 
follows : 



DRAINAGE 13 

"If the land is wet, it should be drained with trough- 
shaped ditches dug three feet wide at the surface, and one 
foot at the bottom and four feet deep. Blind these ditches 
with rock. If you have no rock, then fill them with green 
willow poles braced crosswise. If you have no poles, fill 
them with fagots. Then dig lateral trenches three feet deep 
and four feet wide in such way that the water will flow from 
the trenches into the ditches. 

"In the winter, surface water should be drained off the 
fields. On hillsides courses should be kept clear for the 
water to flow off. During the rainy season at the begin- 
ning of autumn is the greatest risk from water. When it 
begins to rain all the hands should go out with picks and 
shovels and clear out the drains so that the water may flow 
oft' into the roads and the crops be protected." 

The old Roman Senator understood the importance of 
drainage and practiced it. He was anxious for all to know 
its worth, as well as other things which he wrote in his 
treatise. This was the first work on agriculture written in 
Latin, and indeed it is the first book written in that ver- 
nacular at all, and it has more than an antiquarian inter- 
est. 

The quotation which I have given you was taken from 
the translation made by Mr. Fairfax Harrison, a dignified 
Virginia farmer, and now President of the Monon Railroad. 
He is a scholarly and able man, and it would pay you to 
get the translation and read it. I tell you the ancients 
were not such big fools as we sometimes think them to be. 
Mr. Harrison says in his note on the book, page 13, in re- 
gard to some of their methods, as follows : 

"In fact, we are just beginning to learn again the value 
of some of the things Cato practiced. For example, he 
taught intense cultivation, the use of leguminous plants 
for soil improvement, the importance of live stock in a sys- 
tem of general farming, and the effective preservation of 
manure. Barring some developments of bacterial science 
like the ingenious 'nodular hypothesis' in respect to le- 
gumes, the student of farm management to-day could not 
go far wrong if he founded modern instances of agricul- 
tural experience upon the wise saws of this sturdy old 
heathen." 



14 CORN CULTURE 

But I am digressing. Saunders, we were talking about 
drainage, and I am going to show you some of the reasons 
I think it so important. Let us take a walk over to the far 
side of the field, where we have not had the time to com- 
plete the ditches. Along here we have it well drained, and 
you see the fine condition of the land and the growth of the 
cow-peas. It is very luxuriant. Now here is the place 
where we have not drained at all. You see the land is 
heavy, it has no life in it, the color is bad. I do not believe 
it would raise five bushels of corn to the acre. Look over 
there at about three acres of land belonging to Mr. Finley. 
It is white, heavy, and useless. He has been digging a big 
drain and it will soon be completely drained, and then, in 
my opinion, it will be the best land on his farm. It will 
more than pay for itself the first year. There is no humus 
in it now, and what has been, has been leached out by 
water; the nitrogen and phosphorus are all gone. I would 
like for you to see it this time next year, and you would be 
more than surprised at the change, and the crop on it. 

Saunders. I see the importance of it sure, and it is 
best to have good drainage. In some lands, do you not 
have to have tiling? 

Dreyian. Yes. I owTied a farm once on Shepherds- 
ville Turnpike and it was level land and it was tiled. The 
land was very productive after it was tiled, and the possi- 
bilities of the place were indeed wonderful. If you have 
tiling, it is best to have a large main, and then have the 
laterals to come to it. I believe that all tiling should be 
open at both ends if possible and then have manholes in 
them at different places, so as to let the air in them. This 
will keep the tiling from filling up and will also give plenty 
of air to the soil, and this is very necessary. If you have a 
piece of land which has been run down and wish to build 
it up, be sure and tile it if possible the very first thing you 
do. Have your land surveyed topographically, and put in 
the main tiling where your laterals will have the greatest 
fall. Rain-water contains some ammonia and nitrogen, and 
they are carried down in soil and some of it is retained. If 
the water is permitted to stay in the ground any length 
of time, the nitrogen goes off in the form of gas. Some of 
it may remain, but the chances are that it will not, as you 



DRAINAGE 15 

see in the three acres belonging to Mr. Finley, and the 
other land I have shown you. I tell you, Saunders, the 
study of the soil is a most fascinating study. 

Saunders. It is indeed, and I wish you would give me 
your ideas as to the origin of soil, and if I have anything 
to add I will gladly do so. 



CHAPTER IV 

ORIGIN OF SOIL 

Drenan. Geologists say that the earth was at one time 
a molten mass, and that it gradually cooled, and that the 
earth's surface was entirely covered by water. Owing to 
internal pressure, some parts of the crust of the earth 
emerged from the water, and the surface was at first 
igneous rocks, composed of silica and alumina, united with 
variable proportions of oxide of iron, potash, soda, lime, 
magnesia, and small quantities of other substances. 
Through the prolonged action of water, air, and frost, these 
rocks began to disintegrate and to pulverize, and later on, 
vegetable and animal life and their products affected same, 
and we have most of the soil of to-day. 

Some soils are derived directly from the decomposi- 
tion of the igneous rocks themselves, as in the case of soils 
derived from lava, basalt, and granite. 

I remember seeing some land in Canada, and in Ore- 
gon, which was pulverized lava, upon which vegetation 
grew luxuriantly. I remember also seeing one tree at Vic- 
toria growing upon a big rock without any soil to support. 
Of course the rock was in such a condition that the roots 
could get sustenance from it. 

Wherever soil exists to-day, is the result of the disin- 
tegration of this igneous rock through long geologic ages, 
deposited on the bottom of the sea, mingled and associated 
with the remains of vegetable and animal life. Owing to 
chemical action, these sedimentary deposits became rocks 
consisting either of sand, clay, or limestone, or a mixture 
of either of these in various states of condition or aggre- 
gation. 

The sand is the hardest and most resistant part of the 



ORIGIN OF SOIL 17 

original rock, and is composed mostly of quartz, besides 
some felspar, mica, and other minerals. 

Clay is a hydrated silicate of aluminum. It is the re- 
sult of the chemical decomposition of potash or soda felspar. 
These are decomposed by prolonged action of water con- 
taining carbonic acid gas, and in the chemical action the 
alkalies and a part of the silica are removed, and clay re- 
mains. Clay has great tenacity and cementing power. 
This is owing to a small quantity of hydrated colloid (jelly- 
like) body, and according to chemistry it is not over 1.5, 
and remainder of the clay is made up of very fine solid 
particles. 

Lime rock was made from the igneous rock by having 
the lime and magnesia removed by solution and accumulat- 
ed in the ocean, and these were precipitated through the 
agency of vegetable and animal life. 

From these, sandstones, clays, and limestone — most all 
of our present soil — have been produced. 

The most powerful chemical factor in soil-making is 
carbonic acid gas. It is first present in the rain, and when 
this water enters soil containing vegetable matter it acts to 
a much greater extent. The solution of water with car- 
bonic acid gas dissolves the carbonates of lime and mag- 
nesium and they go off in the drainage water. With the 
aid of these carbonates, the solution also attacks undecom- 
posed silicates and removes some of the alkalies, salts, and 
some of the silica which they contain. 

When vegetation grows upon land, the chemical agents 
of decomposition gain in power, the carbonic acid gas is 
much increased, and they are assisted by humic and vitric 
acids, and together with the solvent action of plant roots, 
more soil is made. When this process has continued for 
ages, and has been undisturbed, it produces a surface soil 
rich in vegetable matter containing plant food in every 
available form. 

Saunders. From the looks of your farm, you have the 
sandy soil, the clay, and the limestone. 

Drenan. Yes. Where we are standing it is what you 
might call clay. There is scarcely any lime in it, and very 
little nitrogen. The soil is also what we might call sour. 
If we take a piece of litmus paper and put it in some of the 



18 CORN CULTURE 

soil after it is moistened, the paper will turn red, showing 
that there is a great deal of acid in it. Before this soil will 
produce anything, the acidity must be corrected by an al- 
kali. So I will have to put some lime on it. 

Saunders. Let me see that piece of litmus paper. 
Where did you get it? 



CHAPTER V 

LITMUS PAPER AND TESTING SOIL 

Drenan. Litmus paper is of very delicate vegetable 
fiber. There are two kinds, red and blue, but we need only 
the blue. When an acid is put on same, it turns red, and 
when an alkali is put on it, it turns blue. You saw this pa- 
per turn red just a few moments ago. Here is some lime 
that I am going to put on the land. Now I am going to 
put some lime on this I have in my hand, so that you can 
see what influence it has on it. See how it turns blue. The 
lime has changed it from an acid to an alkali. Let us take 
some more earth, and not put too much lime in it. Here 
this litmus paper now is neither red nor blue. It is a neu- 
tral. You see it is rather a nice calculation to determine 
just how much lime to put on, and if it is burnt lime we 
must be very careful and not put too much. I can tell 
whether the land has any lime in it by taking some of the 
earth on a plate and pouring some hydrochloric acid on it. 
If it effervesces that shows it has lime in it. You have seen 
the foam on soda water. If this foam arises, we may know 
that it has some lime in it. If it does not, then we may 
know that there is no lime in it, and it should have some. 
If you will walk back to the corn field, I will show you 
some things about it. Most of the soil on this land is what 
we might call worn out. I have made inquiries from uy 
neighbors, and they tell me that for years and years tim- 
othy hay was raised and hauled to the market at Louisville 
and nothing brought back to it in the way of manures. 
The man who owned it thought it was so very fertile that 
it could never be exhausted. He did not keep it properly 
drained, and he carried away the fertility in loads of hay, 
and year by year it went down, until it no longer paid to 



20 CORN CULTURE 

cultivate it. Before it is worth anything its fertility must 
be restored. 

There are so many worn-out farms. It would surprise 
you to see them. To restore them to such fertility as they 
might be useful is a great question and concerns every one. 
A person should hold his land in trust, so to speak, not 
only for himself but for future generations. When he 
mistreats it, he is robbing posterity. 

Samiders. You have my idea exactly. I do not know 
the different theories, and cannot talk scientifically about 
it, but I have always aimed to put more on my land than I 
take off. I do this in the form of manure. You know I am 
a trader, and feed quite a number of horses, and it has been 
my aim to keep my land improved. A man might as well 
starve his horse and expect hira to fatten, as to abuse his 
land and expect it to smile back. 

Drenan. There is an awakening among the people, and 
our leading citizens are becoming interested in soil restora- 
tion. The agricultural schools in the land are doing great 
work in helping to scientifically understand the subject and 
the best means to do so. Eminent men of science, states- 
men, and wealthy men are doing what they can to blaze the 
way for soil rejuvenation. It has become one of the big 
questions of the day. Any man who can show how to raise 
seventy-five bushels of corn to the acre on worn-out lan'd 
instead of twenty-five bushels, the average now raised in 
the United States, would be a great benefactor of the hu- 
man race. Some men gain imperishable fame by winning 
great battles, some leave "footprints on the sands of time" 
by herculean efforts in statecraft, but all citizens of our 
country and their posterity should gratefully remember the 
acts of the agricultural hero who teaches and shows how to 
make the barren desert groan with abundant crops, and the 
deserted, worn-out farm to again be the garden of plenty, 
and he is entitled to a monument which corroding time will 
not destroy. Here we are at the corn field, and I never 
become tired looking at it. 

Saunders. It is fine and all right — tell me something 
more that you did. 



CHAPTER VI 

GREEN MANURE 

Drenan. After the thorough draining that I gave the 
field, I jiad turned under all the vegetation that it had up- 
on it. It had grown up in broom sage, and was a sorry 
sight. This grass made a good coating of manure, and I 
had it disked several times, so as to have it pulverized as 
much as possible. It was then sown in rye, and the next 
spring, when the rye had gotten about waist high, it was 
turned under with a disk plow about nine inches deep. The 
ground was again disked and redisked several times. It 
was let alone for about two weeks, to let the rye thoroughly 
decompose, and was then disked twice. Before disking, 
about one thousand pounds of burnt lime to an acre was 
added. It w^as then planted in corn. 

Saunders. I know that turning under a green crop of 
manure helps the land under certain conditions; I wish 
you would give me your reasons for doing so. I know it 
adds fertility. 

Drenan. Chemists have analyzed the corn plant, and 
we know just what elements it contains. All known mat- 
ter is composed of from seventy to eighty elements. An 
element is incapable of further division, and is the simplest 
substance known. Now, corn is composed of thirteen ele- 
ments, namely, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, chlo- 
rine, potash, phosphorus, lime, magnesia, iron, sulphur, so- 
da, and silica. By the study of chemistry we learn of the 
characteristics of each. Mr. Vivian gives the analysis of 
the corn plant as follows: 



22 



CORN CULTURE 



Corn Plant, 
1,000 lbs ----- 



Dry Matter, 
207- 



fWa.er,793..{Hyd-.en,88_.l 

[Protein, 18 
I Fat, 5 
I Fiber, 50 
Organic Matter, J Carbohydrates, 122 

195 INitrogen, 2.9 

Carbon, 90.5 
Oxygen, 88.9 
Hydrogen, 12.7 

Chlorine, .4 
Potash, 4 

Phosphoric Acid, 1 . 2 
Lime, 1 .6 

Ash, 12 •[ Magnesia, 1.4 

Iron Oxide, .3 
Sulphuric Acid, .3 
Soda, .4 
Silica, 2.4 

From this we see that hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon 
compose 98^ per cent of the whole. Potash, phosphorus, 
and nitrogen are three elements necessary to make good 
soil. Of these nitrogen is the most difficult to obtain, and 
the most costly. It has been said that "nitrogen promotes 
growth, phosphorus produces fruitfulness and early ma- 
turity, and potash increases quality." When a soil has 
these three elements, with proper cultivation it will pro- 
duce abundantly. 

We see also from the analysis of the corn that it has 
sulphuric acid, and this, of course, acts upon the hard par- 
ticles of rock in the soil, the same as it did on the phosphate 
rock I told you of. 

Saunders. Are there any hard particles of rock in a 
well-pulverized soil ? 

Drenan. Oh, yes. It would astonish you to take some 
of the very best pulverized soil we have, and put it under 
a microscope ; you will find small particles of rock. If it is 
sandy loam, it will be the quartz that I have mentioned. 
These hard rock have some of the elements of plant life in 
them, and when the sulphuric acid acts upon them they will 
become in such a condition that plant life can reach them. 

When soil is depleted by constant cultivation it lacks 
humus, organic matter, and nitrogen. It then becomes 
necessary to put these back, so that the soil will again pro- 
duce a good crop. 



GREEN MANURE 23 

Saunders. How would you put these back? You say 
it takes humus, organic matter, and nitrogen. I would 
like to know what you mean. 

Drenan. When vegetation falls to the ground, and has 
become thoroughly rotted or decomposed, and becomes a 
part of the soil, it is what is called humus, otherwise it is 
the residue of decayed organic matter. It is what gives 
the black appearance to the land. Some soils are blacker 
than others, and this is because it has more humus in it. 
Organic matter is vegetable and animal matter incorporat- 
ed in the soil, like leaves, roots, manure, etc. When this 
organic matter passes the different stages of decomposition 
and is fully decayed, it becomes humus. I see over here 
an old fence-row. It is very fertile. I remember when a 
boy that my father always cleaned out an old fence-row 
and would make his tobacco bed in it, because it was the 
best land on the place. I thought at the time it was because 
it had rested a long time, and that it had regained its orig- 
inal fertility. What had really happened, weeds and 
bushes had grown up, and the roots had opened up the soil 
and caused the air to reach it and supply it with oxygen, 
and the fence and the weeds and bushes had caught the 
leaves and other vegetable life and held them to the fence- 
row, where they decaj^ed and become fully incorporatd in 
the soil as humus. By humus being repeatedly added to 
the soil it became richer and richer, until it was really the 
richest place on the farm. Now what Nature has done for 
the fence-row, we can do for the whole farm. 

A part of the nitrogen is added to the soil by the de- 
cayed vegetable or animal matter, and the other is taken 
from the atmosphere through the work of soil bacteria 
which make their homes in the root nodules of nitrogen- 
gathering plants, and which draw the nitrogen from the air 
and deposit it on the nodules on the roots, and it thus be- 
comes available for plant food. The roots of trees also 
gather nitrogen and store it in the ground. Clover, cow- 
peas, and vetch are some of the plants that draw nitrogen 
from the air and put it on the root nodules as I have men- 
tioned. 

For centuries Nature had been storing in this great 
country of ours plenty of humus and all other elements 



24 CORN CULTURE 

necessary to raise abundant crops, and when our fore- 
fathers cleared the forest they found the soil rich in humus 
and with untold millions of friendly bacteria working and 
ready for centuries more of work. Our forefathers thought 
the soil inexhaustible, and year after year they continued 
to cultivate, taking all they could off and returning noth- 
ing, abusing the soil in many ways and slaying in ruthless 
manner the great army of bacterial friends, until now we 
find the work of destruction so well done that we find it 
almost impossible to rebuild this mighty fabric. However 
hard is the task, it can and must be done, and my predic- 
tion is that it will come sooner than we expect. 



CHAPTER VII 

ORGANIC MATTER 

Saunders. You have given me your ideas about humus, 
but you have not told me much about organic matter. I 
believe you said that depleted soils needed humus, organic 
matter, and nitrogen. I understand what you mean by 
humus and also by organic matter. I have always believed 
that organic matter was more needed in soil than anything 
else. When I put plenty of good fresh manure and plenty 
of straw on land, I raise a good crop of corn. When this 
is not done, I do not raise as good a crop. This shows me 
that organic matter is very essential. 

Drenan. Organic matter is indeed very necessary. Or- 
ganic matter in time becomes humus. Let us go over to the 
new piece of land which I have recently had cleared, and if 
we go, we will find the land rich in humus and also full of 
organic matter. The leaves have fallen on the land for 
hundreds of years, and the trees have fallen and the roots 
have rotted, and the soil contains a large amount of or- 
ganic matter. The great army of bacteria have done their 
work well; they have brought nitrogen from the air and 
deposited it in the soil, and all that is needed now to raise 
an immense crop is proper cultivation. It is very neces- 
sary to have a good supply of moisture to raise a large 
crop. You know in some places they plow the land deep 
and pulverize it as much as possible, to prevent evapora- 
tion. The land is stirred often during the summer, and this 
conserves the moisture. Now, if land is full of organic 
matter, it will hold more moisture. It has been said that a 
pound of soil with organic matter will hold three times as 
much water as a pound of clay soil, and will retain it twice 
as long. This same soil will also contain five times as much 



26 CORN CULTURE 

water as the same amount of soil of sand, and will also 
retain it five times as long. We cannot get too much or- 
ganic matter into land. Bacteria cannot live on the min- 
erals in the soil. They must have organic matter. As I 
have said, they reach their highest development in virgin 
soil. Scientists say, and I believe it is so, that these bac- 
teria are necessary for putting the soil in proper condition 
for plant growth. In some way they cleanse the soil, and 
put it in proper condition for plant life. These little work- 
ers must have organic matter upon which to live. From 
this you see that I believe it is very necessary to put into 
the soil plant life, or organic matter. In my opinion, you 
can never maintain soil fertility unless you turn under 
some green crop. You see that forty-acre field on the north- 
west side of the farm. Last year I let it grow up with wild 
grass, and it made a dense mat over the whole field. I an- 
ticipated that the ground would be very nrach benefited 
by turning under this coating of grass. I put the man to 
plowing it, and left for the city, and upon my return I 
was amazed to find that he had plowed a few furrows 
around the field and had then set fire to the grass and had 
burned it all. I was mad and felt that he should be treated 
the same way. The only excuse he gave was that it was 
easier to plow. I am satisfied that there was at least 
ten dollars' worth of nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash 
to the acre, and all of this w^ent up in smoke. There is 
simply no excuse for such wanton negligence. Here was 
a loss of at least five hundred dollars, and besides the land 
lost the addition of tons of fertility. 

Saunders. You said something a little while ago about 
some crops peculiarly suited for gathering nitrogen from 
the air and storing it away on the nodules in the roots; I 
have always understood that rye was about the best crop 
to turn under, and I understand from you that rye does 
not gather these bacteria on the rootlets. I believe that 
rye is an extra good crop to turn under. I have turned 
this under and found that I had good results. 

Drenan. There are two kinds of crops that are useful 
to turn under. One class adds nothing directly to the soil, 
and the other does add nitrogen to it. To the first class be- 
long rye, rape, and buckwheat, and to the second class be- 



ORGANIC MATTER 27 

long cow-peas, clover, vetch, and beans. The first class has 
the power of reaching out and collecting from the soil ele- 
ments that are needed, and when the roots are turned un- 
der and decay, the soil is more suitable for the succeeding 
crop. When a crop of rye is turned under it adds potash, 
phosphoric acid, and nitrogen to the soil. Chemists say 
that in a ton of green rye there are eleven pounds of nitro- 
gen, four and a half pounds of phosphoric acid, and 
twelve and a half pounds of potash, and it also contains 
the other elements ; and that it produces nitric and carbon- 
ic acids, and these act upon the soil in the way I have men- 
tioned. It will produce from five to ten tons to the acre, 
and you can see at a glance its great value as manure. It 
is sown and raised at a time of the year when the land is 
not occupied with other crops. Some writers say that it is 
better in the long run than manure. My experience is that 
when I have turned under rye, and then disked and fol- 
lowed with a drag harrow, that I have gotten better results 
than where it was not turned under. Last year I made a 
mistake and let the hogs eat it, and I did not have as much 
rye to turn under as there should have been. 

Saunders. Rye is great for the land. I believe people 
make a mistake in sowing it too late. It should be sowed 
soon enough to get a good root before winter. By the first 
of December the field should be covered completely, and 
look green and healthful. 

Drenan. I know you are right. The more roots it has 
and the longer they are, the more organic matter you will 
put in the land. By all means never make the mistake I 
did last year of grazing it in the spring. Let it grow until 
you get ready to turn it under. It should be turned under 
so that none of the rye will show, and it should be disked 
and harrowed well, and the soil at the top should be pul- 
verized as much as possible, and if it could be rolled it 
would be all the better, so as to prevent the escape of the 
gases and to make as much of the acids as possible. The 
r3^e will soon decompose, and you have a lot of organic 
matter to feed the bacteria in the ground, and for supply- 
ing future crops with the necessary maintenance. 

One of my neighbors told me last year not to turn under 
the rye — that it would sour the soil, and that I would not 



28 CORN CULTURE 

be able to raise anything. I told him that I had drained 
the land extra well, and that I did not anticipate any dan- 
ger from that source. What rye I did turn under aided 
and assisted, as you see the good crop of corn. I am very 
enthusiastic about turning under rye, and I believe it will 
do as much good as anything you can do. I have had much 
experience with rye, and I have turned under a lot of it 
and I can safely say that if your land is well drained you 
need have no fear of it becoming sour. If you turn under 
a crop of rye, and the land becomes sour, you can depend 
upon it that the land is not properly drained, and that you 
had better look after it. I would like to impress upon 
everybody the importance and necessity of good drainage. 
Rye is a fine crop to help bring back a worn-out soil to fer- 
tility. It costs but little to put it in, it grows rank, and 
when properly turned under it will aid and assist in hold- 
ing the moisture. 

Saunders. I see you have a lot of cow-peas on the 
place, and I suppose you are a great believer in them. 
- Drenan. Yes. You see I have peas planted every place 
I could find a place to put them. Cow-peas draw nitrogen 
from the air and store it on the rootlets. I have the corn 
field sowed in cow-peas and I have the field in the front 
sowed in cow-peas alone. I am going to turn all of them 
under. Come out here and we will pull up some cow-peas 
so you can see the roots. Look at this one; it has some 
large nodules on it. Analysis shows that these contain in- 
numerable bacteria, and that these bacteria can obtain the 
nitrogen from the air. The cow-peas, with the assistance 
of these bacteria, get nitrogen from the air instead of pro- 
curing the same from the nitrates in the soil. If the soil 
is in such condition these bacteria cannot live or do work, 
the plant will get its supply of nitrogen from the soil, and 
the nitrogen contents of the soil will therefore be dimin- 
ished to a certain extent. My observation of the cow- 
peas, red clover, and vetch is that they will obtain most of 
their nitrogen from the air, and they are for this reason 
fine crops for the land. If you are going to turn under any 
of these crops, you should turn them under while green. 
They should not be permitted to mature. There is more 
nitrogen in the green crop than in the ripe one. The no- 



ORGANIC MATTER 29 

diiles seem to get smaller as the crop matures, and if your 
aim is to put all the nitrogen in the land that you can, then 
it is better to turn under while it is green and just before 
maturity begins. I fully believe that if a person would 
take a worn-out piece of land and plow and subsoil well, 
put on ground limestone, and then put in cow-peas in the 
spring and turn under in August, and in September put in 
rye, and in the spring turn under, I am sure a good crop of 
corn could be raised upon the same that year. If the same 
process was repeated the second year, I have no doubt as to 
the next year's crop. It would be a good-sized one, and 
would perhaps pay for all the trouble. 

Saunders. This may be all right, but most men are not 
able to let their land go idle that long, and to bear this ex- 
tra expense. 

Drenan. Yes, that is true, but they can sow a catch 
crop and aid and assist in keeping the land in good condi- 
tion. Suppose a man has ten acres of corn, he can very 
easily sow cow-peas in it at the last plowing, as I did this 
corn field behind the house, and when the corn is gathered, 
plow it under. If wheat is raised, as soon as it is gathered 
the ground can be broken up and sowed in cow-peas, and 
when they come to enough growi:h, be turned and make a 
good coating. You will not only get an extra amount of 
humus, but you will aerate the land, and the air will also 
aid and assist to keep the soil balanced anyway. Going 
back to what I have repeatedly said about drainage and 
tiling and plowing, I want to say that they put the ground 
in ideal condition for the decomposition of organic matter 
and increase the amount of food available for the crop, but 
at the same time they do an injury to the soil which should 
be repaired. 

A Minnesota bulletin gives the loss of nitrogen and hu- 
mus from soil in twenty-three years' cultivation. It is as 
follows : 

LOSS OF NITROGEN AND HUMUS FROM SOIL. 

Native Cultivated 
Soil 23 Years 

Total humus 3.97 2.59 

Total nitrogen 0.36 0.19 

Capacity to hold water 62.00 54.00 



30 CORN CULTURE 

From this we see that it is best to get busy and renew 
the nitrogen and humus, and all other elements that may be 
exhausted or diminished, and as manure cannot be gotten 
in sufficient quantity, the next best thing to do is to turn 
under green manure. In fact, I believe it is as good if not 
better in the long run. Of course, manure is good if it can 
be gotten, but the problem is to get it in sufficient quantity. 

Saunders, I have not heard you say a word about crop 
rotation. I consider this very important, and I have been 
taught that the rotation of crops will renew the fertility. 
I have practiced this in my farming, and I find that it pays. 



CHAPTER VIII 

CROP ROTATION 

Drenan. I believe in rotation of crops and have al- 
ways practiced it. It evidently increases the yield, but 
does rotation of crops alone increase fertility? The Agri- 
cultural Department at Washington seems to think it will. 
The Department contends that when a crop is raised con- 
tinuously on one piece of land, that the excreta from the 
roots of the plant will poison the ground, and thus prevent 
or check the growth of the same crop or plant. This has 
also been the theory of a number of scientific men. They 
contend that plants have excreta as human beings — that as 
excreta of the human being is poisonous to human life, 
likewise is the excreta of the plant poisonous to the same 
plant. They contend that there is no such thing as soil 
exhaustion — that it is nothing more than soil poisoning. 
The Department contends that crop rotation will remedy 
the evils. Somehow or other I cannot believe it. I am 
not an expert or scientific agriculturist. I have read and 
studied a great deal on the subject, but I cannot believe 
tliis excreta theory. It seems to me to be too finespun and 
farfetched. Rotation of crops has been practiced for hun- 
dreds of years. No doubt it was at first accidentally dis- 
covered, perhaps at first by cultivating the land without 
raising any crop, and it was discovered that it was good, 
then perhaps commenced the practice of rotation of differ- 
ent crops for three years and for four years. Rotation of 
crops, however, does increase the yield. The Rothamsted 
Experiment Station in England has kept an accurate ac- 
count of the different experiments, and it has tried all 
kinds. This is the data furnished by this station: 



32 CORN CULTURE 

EFFECT OF ROTATION ON CROP PRODUCTION— AVERAGE 
OF EIGHT COURSES, THIRTY-TWO YEARS. 



Grown continuously. 
In rotation 



Bushels 


per Acre. 


Barley 


Wheat 


18 


12 


32 


26 



This evidently shows that rotation increases yield, and 
hence we cannot help but come to the conclusion that rota- 
tion is necessary. Somehow or other that excreta theory 
upsets me. It does not look reasonable. I know that the 
roots of corn are diUCerent from those of wheat ; the root 
of the alfalfa is different from the root of rye. Some roots 
go deep into the ground and get their sustenance from the 
lower surface; some roots are maintained near the surface. 
The chemical elements are in different proportions in dif- 
ferent plants. As deep-rooted plants get their food deep 
in the ground, they perhaps bring up food near the sur- 
face which is not consumed, and it thus helps the next crop, 
provided the next crop is a shallow-rooted plant. It is well 
known by every one that shallow-rooted plants do better if 
they follow after the deep-rooted plants. 

When one crop is grown continuously on a piece of 
ground, I have no doubt but that plant diseases peculiar 
to that plant exist and thrive. Plant diseases are caused 
by bacteria or other fungi living on that plant. The dis- 
ease is usually limited to that genus of plant. Take the 
fungus growth on corn, it will not grow on the cabbage, 
and what will grow and make a disease on cabbage will not 
do so on the bean. AA^hen a crop is continuously grown 
year after year, the disease will be carried over and is 
given every opportunity to exist. When the crop is ro- 
tated, there is less liability to carry over this disease. When 
you grow one crop continuously, there will be certain weeds 
come up that will not be killed by the cultivation necessary 
to raise that crop. In rotation, we can have different 
methods of cultivating, and tliis will kill the different 
weeds. 

Saunders. I see from what you say that you believe in 
rotation of crops, but you believe a shallow-rooted plant 
should follow a deep-rooted one. I have always practiced 
rotation of crops, and I never gave a thought as to the kind 



CROP ROTATION 33 

oi' rotation it should be. I see at once the necessity of giv- 
ing more thought and attention to the matter. I wish you 
would reiterate your ideas and give me the kind of rotation 
there should be. 

Drenan. Red clover, rape, wheat, corn, and rye are 
deep rooted, and they have great power of obtaining ash 
constituents from the lower soils. Potatoes, turnips, beans, 
peas, and onions are shallow rooted, and they get their sub- 
sistence from the surface soil. The deep-rooted plant 
makes the subsoil contribute to general fertility. The air 
goes deeper and the soil is better aerated, pulverizing goes 
on better, and the different elements are let go, so to speak. 

Saunders. "What I want to know is whether you would 
have two, three, or four year rotation, and what w^ould you 
put in each year? 

Drenan. Corn is a very deep-rooted plant, and if the 
subsoil is in proper condition it will go down some distance. 
I would have corn say the first year. In the fall I would 
disk the corn field with the stalks on it. I would turn it 
under and sow in rye. In the spring, about the middle of 
April, I would plow this rye under and pulverize the soil 
at first with a drag harrow, doing this to keep in the gases. 
AVhen the rye was decomposed I would disk each way, and 
put it in as good condition as I could. About the last of 
IMay or the first of June I would sow in cow-peas, and when 
harvested I would sow in wheat, and in the spring I would 
sow in clover. In this way one can preserve the nitrogen, 
potash, and phosphoric acid, and get four good crops. He 
would harvest a crop each year. I would plow under the 
clover after I harvested the first growth of clover. I would 
let it grow, after cutting it the first time, until it was be- 
ginning to head out before plowing under. It should be 
plowed under while green, as it has more nitrogen at that 
time. 

The rotation then would be four years — cornf cow-peas, 
wheat, and clover. If this method is practiced I have no 
doubt but that fertility could be maintained and the 
amount of crops very much increased. If a person wanted 
to change and have different crops, he could do so. I am 
going to give you a list of some plants, and the weight and 
average composition in pounds per acre, and it might be 
of some use to you. They are as follows: 



34 



CORN CULTURE 







1 


02 


o 


CO 


Cl 


00 


00 


CO 


OT 


TfH 


CO 


10 








BDIJlg 


o 


CO 





^ 





00 


03 


10 


10 

















0: 


Oi 


'"' 


»o 


CO 


1—1 


CO 


00 












to 


^ 


-* 


10 


iC 


CO 


r-H 


10 


^ 


CO 


(M 






Pi 
o 

< 


auuoiqo 


d 


ci 


<M 





CO 


'^ 





CO 


CO 





































PPV 




(N 


C5 


^ 





t^ 


t^ 





Tt< 


Tt^ 













ouoqd 


^ 


'^ 


CO 


^' 


CO 


rt< 


d 


CO 


CO 


d 


d 


06 


06 


-soqj; 








(M 


^ 




(M 


■"^ 




'"' 


T— 1 






P^ 




































O 


10 


1— t 





Cl 


05 





t-H 


t^ 


Tf< 






P 


BisanSBj^ 


^ 


CO 


CO 


r- 


•^ 


(N 


CO 


CO 





GO 


CO 






































o 


(N 


(M 


(M 





iM 


00 


CO 


CO 


10 






o 


aini'^ 


^ 




06 


05 


^ 


06 


05 




d 


^ 


d 








"" 


















I— 1 








v^ 






























1— I 




J2 


o 








r-H 


Oi 





00 


CO 


^ 


<M 






02 


Bpog 


o 


(M 


(N 


,-1 


CO 


>o 





■^ 


>o 









PLH 






























O 






























n 






CO 


lO 


GO 


00 


05 


r^ 


i-H 





I— 1 


\n 


00 


CO 


qsB^Od^ 


J2 


Ci 


C5 


00 


C3 


10 


»o 


05 


t^ 


CO 





C5 


CO 


S 










(M 




(M 


CO 




CO 


-<tl 




CO 


CO 






I> 


rH 


00 


01 


(M 


^ 


(N 


00 





00 






1— 1 


jnqding 


£ 


d 


lO 


t^ 


oi 


CO 


CO 


CO 


'^ 


06 


^ 


































Q 






























o 


n33oj^if.j 


to 


CO 






10 


10 

CO 


■rt< 


C5 


CO 


00 


10 


00 

(M 


»o 


^ 






























n 






o 


(N 


(N 


CO 


1-H 


t- 


y^ 





j—i 


(M 


05 


1-H 




qey SJnj 


£ 


CO 


TjH 


t^ 


'SH 


r—t 


lO 


»o 


-<n 


Ci 


IM 


Oi 


(N 


J2; 


F^ox 




1—1 


'"' 




'"' 


'^ 




.— 1 


'"' 






^ 


n 






























1— 1 
































H 
1— 1 

CO 


a 






o 


CO 


CO 


t^ 





t^ 


10 


CO 


00 





t^ 


t- 


O 


>> 




CO 


10 


00 


'^ 


00 


(M 


<N 


»o 


t^ 





r^ 


l- 


O 


P 


ja 


Hi 


CO 




t^ 





00 


CO 


CO 


01 


iO 


00 


co 


C ) 








1—i 


IM 


TT 


1— ( 


(N 


CO 


»-H 


(M 


CO 


T-H 


T— 1 


CO 




o 






























m 




o 


00 


00 


„ 


t^ 


t^ 





10 


10 





00 


CO 


o 
o 


bO 






o 


10 


>o 


GO 


Tt^ 


(M 


Ol 


CO 


(M 


00 





00 


o 
^ 


^ 


^- 


co" 


0= 







10 


00 


00 




CO 


c<r 


00 
co" 


CD 












































1 
















<t1 














1 
















tf 














i 
















w 














' 
















> 














1 
















< 














1 
















Q 














! 
















^ 












' 


1 
















< 






to 








1 










CO 






o 






to 

_o 

o 

CO 






to 
3 


■<4< 






-2 

03 






0) 
3 
5R 




















C 
bC 










e3 




CJ 




i 





H 












^ 




c3 




i- 






CO 








Eh 
< 




+J 






-tJ 


bC 


-fi 


-|J 






+j 




















m 




















H 


J 




H 


aa 




H 




H 
















< 













<; 
^ 







CROP ROTATION 



35 









05 


o 


TtH 


C5 


CO 


CO 


I— 1 


t^ 


^ 


CO 


t^ 


«3!1!S 


£ 


CO 


t- 


O 


CO 


i> 


CM 


\n 


t^ 


CO 


CO 


CO 






CO 


00 


1—1 


CO 


^ 


05 


CM 


^ 


GO 


CO 


^ 


antiono 


■2 


•*' 


a> 


-^ 


'^ 


iC 


o 


m; 


?^ 


CO 


00 


lO 


PPV 




CO 


CT> 


00 


CO 


^ 


Tt< 


t^ 


r-\ 


Ci 


00 


t^ 


ouoqd 




<M 


-*' 


CM 


CO 


C5 


CM 


o 


CO 


CO 


Tt< 


^ 


-soq<j 






(N 


c^ 




cm 


CM 




CO 


'"' 




CM 






•* 


<M 


CM 


t^ 


Cft 


t^ 


00 


lO 


00 


^ 


CM 


Bie8n3Bi\[ 


a: 


■*' 


GO 


^' 


id 


C5 


»d 


CO 


CJ 


CD 


CM 


ci 






^ 


^ 


Ci 


CO 


CM 


IC 


lO 


o 


t^ 


t^ 


-* 


auiCj 


^ 


(N 


O 


c^ 


CO 


Ci 


lO 


00 


'i^ 


05 


CM 


CM 






CO 


Oi 




CM 


.M 


CM 


•* 






CM 


Tt< 






c^ 


^ 


CO 


t^ 


CO 


o 


lO 


iC 


00 


CM 


O 


tjpog 


£ 


Ci 


»o 


o 


^ 


(M 


t^ 


t^ 


^ 


CM 
CM 


05 


CO 






o 


Tt< 


CO 


00 


1— 1 


CO 


CM 


00 


CO 


Ttl 


t- 


qsB^oj 


-O 


o 


CO 


■* 


CM 


t^ 


00 


o 


00 


CO 


CD 


C3 






»o 


00 


CM 


Tt< 




o 


■* 


rj^ 


CO 


1— ( 


t>- 


























* 






1^ 


•* 


■* 


C5 


CO 


CM 


t^ 


Ol 


CD 


CM 


00 


jnqdjng 


£ 


o 


05 


•*' 


■* 


CJ 


«d 


id 


o 

CM 


■*' 


CO 


r^ 


n8 3oj:>i^ 


03 


03 


00 

05 


00 


C5 
CM 


§ 


.—1 

CO 


^ 


o 


o 


00 

CM 


00 
C5 






C<3 


00 


00 


<35 


t^ 


QO 


CO 


^ 


CO 


lO 


00 




02 


o 


lO 


lO 


O) 


lO 




■* 


CO 


CO 


t^ 


CO 


IB^ox 




(M 


(M 








CM 




CO 


>-H 




CM 


Q, 






IM 


CO 


CO 


00 


^ 


CD 


^^ 


t^ 


05 


CD 


lO 


O 


>> 




CM 


CO 




'^ 


CD 


CM 


CO 


s 


Tt< 


O 


lO 


U 


Q 


-Q 


oc 


t^ 


o 


00 


^ 




lO 


CO 


t^ 


o 


"o 






(N 


CO 


.^ 


'"' 


CO 


CO 


^ 


TjH 


CO 




■^ 


■4J 


























^ 






O 


o 


o 


o 


o 


o 


MH 


s 


o 


>* 


'^ 


bO 






CO 


OO 


CM 


^ 


CD 


00 


CM 


CD 


o 


CO 




<^ 


n 




^ 


Oi 


CM 




o 


■* 


IC 




t^ 


o 


^ 


a 




so" 


Tt<~ 


--" 


cm" 


^~ 


oo" 

CO 


^ 




CO 


^" 


CD" 
CO 








03 


03 








\ 






! 










o 








03 








I 








a 
o 

+3 


+3 


43 

03 






C 

o 






o 










HM 


{H 








1> 


















<< 


O 






r-H 




















CO 

c" 
■rf 




o 


o 
o 




o 


o 
o 


2, 


o 






^ 


o 


bC 


03 


j3 


m 




c3 


^ 




03 






ij 






-u 






-k9 












o 
o 
< 


o 


02 




O 


H^ 




o 
H 






O 

H 






Q 


< 






« 






a 










§ 


H 


a 






& 






& 












tf 


CQ 






H 






CO 







36 



CORN CULTURE 



Pi 
o 
< 

Pi 
H 

CO 

P 

O 



CO 

O 
P5 
O 

!>^ 
P5 

Q 
O 

o 
o 



CO 

O 

o 
o 

o 

Q 
H 

w 
o 

I— I 

I 

w 





Boins 


lbs. 

8.7 

9.2 




CO 


2.2 
53.9 


CO 
lO 


2.9 
44.3 




»o CO 
d lo 


CO 
d 


anijo^qo 


— ^ -^ -^ 


CO 

00 


-* 














PPV 
ouoqd 
■ -soqj 


. Th to 

CO 

J2 O CO 
— ' CO .-H 


Oi 
lO 


lO 

oq 


lO CO 

T-H CJ 


00 

d 


CO t^ 

,-1 lO 


o 


O CO 

1— 1 CO 


CO 


BtS8u3T!J\[ 


. CO (M 


lO 


CO 

CO 


CO d 


CO 


00 (M 

,-H d 


o 

GO 


lO CO 

.-I '^ 


00 

lO 


amii 


• o o 




CO 


1—1 

.-H CO 


o 

d 

00' 


00 ^ 


CO 
CO 


O GO 

d d 


00 

lO 
0-1 


BpOg 


• '^ CO 

a; 

— ' CD '^ 


00 


00 
CO 


<X) CO 

'd ^' 




-tH LO 

d .-I 


02 


d i-I 


Ci 


qsB^oj 


• 00 C5 


d 
o 

CO 


CO 


(N 00 

-* 00 


o 

CO 


CO CO 

CO -rfH 


C3 


CO CO 
C5 ^' 


CD 

d 


jnqdjng 




o 














i 


uaSoa^ij^ 


Sg 00 ^ 


2 


CD 


^ CO 


^ 










qsy ajnj 


_2 -* (M 


o 

00 

o 


r^ 

M 


O CO 
(M CO 




o ^ 


t^ 


lO (M 


lO 


a 
o 

O 

o 

1 




,/ ,— 1 lO 
^ CI o 

""' to" ^" 


00 

CO 


o 

CD 
CO 

co" 


(M »0 

00 ci 




■^ CO 

CO 00 

O CO 
co" (M" 


lo" 


•^ »o 
00 '^ 

00 GO 


lO' 


4^ 


O CO 

aj 00 CO 
"■ oT oo~ 


CO 


O 

co" 


, 1 
















C 

o . 

O 'rt 

O C) 

CO 

w 

o 

<j 


ex 
o 

o 


C 
O 

CO 

tT 
;-. 

w 

O 

< 
El 
O 


1 ;-! 

1 o 

§ -s 

& -2 
aT 

u 


o 

o 
H 


' 1 

1 Sh 

1 o 
1 -Hi 

-o — 
o «*- 

O o3 

& Ji 

K : 

1-4 

(a 
o 
t) 

K 


O 

=3 

O 
;-< 

Oh 

"^ 
O 
H 


1 ■'-' 
o ^ 

o 
o 


3 
o 
D. 

o 



CROP ROTATION 37 

When these analyses are studied, you can see what is 
taken out by the different crops and what should be re- 
stored. If you will look at the red clover hay, assuming 
that there are two tons to the acre, there are 258 pounds of 
pure ash, 98 pounds of nitrogen, 83.4 pounds of potash, 90 
pounds of lime, and 24.9 pounds of phosphoric acid. When 
red clover is turned under, it adds greatly to fertility. 
When it is hauled off the land, w^e see also what the land 
loses. Clover helps tlie land even if both crops are re- 
moved, because it gathers nitrogen from the air as cow- 
peas, and is considered the best for this purpose. 

Saunders. As I am a trader and have horses and stock, 
they make a great deal of manure, and I help to maintain 
the fertility of my farm by applying it. This is no doubt a 
good way, and 1 believe it is the best for restoring fertility. 
I have noticed the effect of manure for several years. It 
certainly helps the soil and no doubt greatly benefits it. A 
good dairyman nearly always has a rich farm. 



CHAPTER IX 

MANURE 

Drenan. That is so. I want to take you over to see a 
neighbor of mine by the name of Finley. He has a dairy 
of ninety cows, and I consider it one of the best I ever saw. 
The plant is not one of those imposing ones you see in 
New Jersey just before you get to New York. I believe 
he has more common sense mixed up with it, and good 
judgment in it, than you will find any place. I want to 
take you over to see him and meet his family. He has a 
most excellent wife, a young son, and two little daughters 
that are very bright and happy. We can go over and see 
him before dinner, and by the time we get back Mrs. 
Drenan will have dinner, and I want you to see her fine 
pantry of preserved fruits and canned goods. She has a 
fine lot, and I am as proud of them as she is. Here is your 
hat, we will drive over. In going over, I can show you the 
alfalfa field. 

Saunders. Is this your alfalfa field? It looks very 
thin, and I would not think you would get much hay off of 
it. 

Drenan. You are right, it is a little thin. You know 
the soil had to be inoculated with the alfalfa germ. I got 
some and sowed a part myseilf to show my tenant how to 
sow it. When I left, he said that I did not have any sense 
any way, and that he was not going to spend the time sow- 
ing it. He took it back to the crib, and I found it there 
this spring. Where you see the alfalfa, that is the place 
where I sowed the dirt which had the germ in it, and you 
can see that it is all right, and if the field had been like 
that it would be good. I got the germs in an old alfalfa 
field near here. This tenant could not believe it was 



MANURE 39 

necessary, and he did not want to do the work. Of course, I 
did not know it, or we would then and there have parted 
company. He was antediluvian and certainly a back num- 
ber. He was not willing to take the advice of experienced 
men. This tenant has made a failure in life, and always 
will be such. I see Mr. Finley at the barn. He is a hard 
worker and always keeps busy. 

Good morning, Mr. Finley. I have here an old friend 
that I want you to meet. He is a farmer and a trader, and 
is very much interested in my corn crop and in restoring 
worn-out land to virgin fertility. I want to make you ac- 
quainted with my friend, Mr. Saunders. 

Finley. Good morning, Mr. Saunders, I am glad to 
know you. When did you come down to see the Judge ? 

Saunders. This morning, and I have been very much 
interested in his conversations about the growing of corn, 
his discussions of soils, and how to restore worn-out lands. 
He is certainly a fine theoretical farmer. 

Finley. All of us call him Judge down in this part of 
the country, and I believe if he had the time to stay on 
the farm and give it more attention he would be a very 
successful farmer. As it is, he makes us all sit up and 
take notice. He certainly has a very fine crop of corn this 
year, and his potato crop was a bumper. I believe he 
raised about a thousand bushels on three acres. They 
were certainly large. 

Drenan. I do not take any of the credit for this crop 
to myself. My foreman, Mr. Moremen, planted it and did 
all the plowing, and did some things that I did not ap- 
prove of. He raised the crop, however, and the potatoes 
brought $2.50 a barrel in the market when other potatoes 
were bringing $1.65. What I did was done the year be- 
fore. I cultivated the field well and sowed it in rye, and 
hogged it down, and had about sixty hogs fattened on the 
lot. The feed and the manure from these hogs enriched 
the lot very much. I had two open ditches made through 
it so the water would go off at once, and not leach out all 
the nitrogen, potash, and phosphorus I had put in it. 
Moremen persuaded me to put it in potatoes. I am glad 
I did, as it paid well, and I learned a great deal about cul- 
tivating the crop. I knew nothing about it before this 



40 CORN CULTURE 

year. 1 have been telling Mr. Saunders about your fine 
barn and cows, and that you had your ideas as to how to 
restore fertility to worn-out land, and I suggested to him 
that we come over and see you and talk to you. 

Finley. I have given more time and attention to tne 
dairy business than to general farming. When I com- 
menced the certified dairy business, this farm, which then 
consisted of 125 acres, was worn out. Hay crop after 
hay crop had been carried off to the city of Louisville, and 
but little manure had been returned. The fertility de- 
creased and kept on decreasing, and something had to be 
done. Farming was no longer profitable. I disliked the 
general dairy business, as it was very much abused. Dirty 
milk was sold, and I felt that many a death had been 
caused by it. When the opportunity came to me to sell 
certified milk by having healthful cows free from tubercu- 
losis and other diseases, and the milk handled in a sanitary 
manner, I took advantage of it, and have been in the 
business for several years. While it has its ups and downs, 
and the work is hard and exacting, with the aid and as- 
sistance of my family I have kept on, and I have at last 
a very good business. Come into the barn, and I will show 
it to you. You see here is where we milk the cows. This 
part is 60 feet long by 60 feet wide. The floor 
is made of concrete, and is thoroughly cleaned every 
day. If I were going to build another, I would not have 
any loft above it. After the cattle are milked they go 
back to the feeding barn. Which is 224 feet long by 87 
feet wide. The feeding trough is in the center. There is 
a concrete walk in the center, upon which we go to feed 
the cows, and the troughs are on each side of it. Each cow 
knows her place and goes to it. When they are through 
eating they are released; then they walk around in the 
barn. They sleep in it. I keep the ground-space well 
filled with straw, and the cattle tramp it, and I put more 
straw on it about every two weeks. You see there is a 
big ventilator in it. The cows keep clean, and there is not 
the least smell in the barn. 

Saunders. I see that everything looks clean and neat, 
and there is no odor in the barn. This strikes me very 
forcibly. I suppose that your cows make a large amount 



MANURE 41 

of manure? You must have a tremendous amount to haul 
out. 

Finley. 1 suppose that we haul out every year about 
a thousand wagon-loads. 1 have a manure-spreader, and 
we put it on the land with it. It is a great machine. I do 
not see how any farmer can do without it. I maintain the 
fertility of my soil with manure. Judge induced me to 
sow rye in the front field and turn it under and put in 
corn. He says I made the mistake of pasturing it down in 
the spring. I expect he is right, but at that time I had to 
have some green feed for my cows, and was almost neces- 
sarily compelled to pasture it. I will try and not do so 
another year. 

Saunders. I see at a glance that you save all the 
manure which is made in your barn. I have learned that 
liquid manure is worth more than solid manure. All the 
liquid manure made by your cows is saved by being ab- 
sorbed in the straw. It seems to me that you have the cor- 
rect theory. I would like to know what Drenan, our scien- 
tific corn-raiser, has to say about it. Have you thought 
much about it, Drenan? 

Drenan. Yes, I have. I have read and thought about 
how best to make and preserve it and to reap the benefits. 
If there was enough manure in the world to sufficiently 
spread upon land, the problem of fertility would be easily 
solved. Unfortunately there is not. What manure is 
made should be handled to the best advantage. Barnyard 
manure is the oldest as well as the most popular way of 
fertilizing land. Cato said, "Plan to have a big compost 
heap and take the best of care of the manure. When it is 
hauled out see that it is well rotted and spread. The au- 
tumn is the time to do this," Manure has been used ever 
since by all good farmers. Young stock make less manure 
than old stock. The young are growing, and the food goes 
to make bone, muscle, and growth. Practically all the 
food eaten by a mature cow makes the same amount of 
manure. Some of the food goes to milk, but practically all 
of it to manure. Manure is valuable for the amount of 
nitrogen, phosphoric acid, and potash that it contains. 
Chemists by repeated experiments have proven beyond 
doubt that manure has the greatest value at the time it 



42 CORN CULTURE 

leaves the animal. If the manure could be put on the land 
at this time and plowed under, there would be a maximum 
yield. Most farmers pay but very little attention to liquid 
manure, as I have said before. The analysis by scientific 
men shows that it contains more than one-half of the ni- 
trogen and potash. One writer says, "It is perfectly safe 
to say, however, that of the total fertilizing materials 
found in the manure, two-thirds of the nitrogen and four- 
fifths of the potash are found in the urine, but practically 
none of phosphoric acid." 

As soon as manure is made, fermentation in different 
ways begins. This fermentation is caused by the action of 
different forms of bacteria. Some of these bacteria can 
only work and live in the presence of oxygen, and they are 
called "aerobic" bacteria; the other kind do not require 
oxygen, and they are called "anaerobic" bacteria. The 
hot fermentation is caused by the aerobic bacteria. The 
nitrogenous substance in the urine commences a rapid de- 
composition, and we can tell it by the odor of ammonia 
given off, which we can usually detect in the stable. The 
nitrogen is very quickly given off, and loss therefore oc- 
curs. If there is bedding in the stable that will absorb the 
urine, fermentation is delayed and the greater part of the 
nitrogen is saved. Some straw is better than other straw; 
oat straw is better than wheat straw. The shorter the straw 
the quicker it will absorb the liquid. It is easier for the liquid 
to come in contact with each and every part of the litter 
when it is short than when it is long. If a person would 
take the time to cut all his bedding on a cutting-box, and 
have it as short as possible, it would pay for the time and 
trouble. When there is much litter like in Mr. Finley's 
barn, the liquid manure is readily taken up, and the walk- 
ing of the cows over the straw makes it firm and keeps out 
the oxygen as much as possible, and fermentation is re- 
tarded. There is no odor given off, and the elements are 
preserved. The aerobic bacteria do not have a chance to 
get in their work. 

Saunders. I have heard it said, Drenan, that when 
you were a young boy with your grandmother, that you 
threw all the manure out of the stable into the barn lot 
and let it stay there until the next spring, and then hauled 



MANURE 43 

it out. I believe one man told me that he had told you it 
was not right and that you should not do it, and that you 
told him that he had better go and attend to his own busi- 
ness and not meddle with other people's; did this happen? 

Drenan. I expect it did, and more beside. That was 
not my thinking age. I was perhaps passing through the 
same stage that all boys pass, and was not willing to be 
guided by any one. I remember that I threw the manure 
out the window in the barn, and it stayed out in the rain 
and snow all winter. I can well remember the heap smok- 
ing and becoming very hot and dry. I did not know at 
the time that the nitrogen was passing away, and that it 
was being very much deteriorated. I well remember how 
white or " fire-f anged " it became. I expect in truth that 
I did not care. Since then, life has been real, and I have 
tried to do some thinking and acting. I can see now that 
a great waste was going on, and if my education in chem- 
istry had been anything I might have worked out some 
problems. 

When manure is consolidated by tramping like that in 
Mr. Finley's barn, the air is excluded and the mass fer- 
ments but very little; there is a slight rise in temperature, 
and a small percentage of carbonic acid, hydrogen, and 
nitrogen is given off, the loss of weight is not so much, and 
the mass is being converted into humic matter. The fer- 
mentation that takes place here is the work of the anaerobic 
bacteria. 

It is said that where rapid decomposition takes place 
the nitrogen not only disappears but the remaining sub- 
stance is not so good for plant life; insoluble compounds 
are produced, and they are not so immediately available 
for plant food as they were when the excrement was first 
voided. 

Finley. I believe that the loss can be prevented to 
some extent by sprinkling the manure with gypsum or 
land-plaster. I have heard it said that when gypsum is 
spread over manure that it brings about a chemical change 
that converts the ammonia into a compound that is not 
volatile, and that it will not pass off into the air, and that 
the gypsum not only increases the value of the manure but 
it also increases in value in and of itself. 



44 CORN CULTURE 

I believe that dry earth will also help to preserve its 
value. I know the value of manure, and I try to get the 
benefit of it in every way I can. The farm here was once 
poor in fertility, but it is now becoming very fertile. Here 
is an acre of corn below the barn that I do not believe can 
be beaten even by the eight-acre field belonging to the 
Judge. It takes rich and fertile land to produce a big 
crop. It takes about as much labor on poor land as it does 
on rich land, and you get more returns from the rich than 
from the poor land. I believe that by selling certified milk I 
am doing my fellowman a benefit, and I am helping future 
generations by bettering the land that I now hold in trust 
for them. I do not want to be a soil-robber any more than 
I want to be a money-robber. 

Saunders. I see that you are well posted and up with 
the times. I am not surprised that you have such a good 
dairy, and my prediction is that it is going to be still bet- 
ter and better as time goes on. Drenan told me of your 
progressive ideas before we reached here, and I am more 
than delighted in the trip over, but there is one more ques- 
tion that I want to ask you. I have been told that the 
value of manure depends upon the feed that is fed; now 
what can you tell me about that? 

Finley. The value of the manure depends upon the 
feed. If the feed is rich in nitrogen, potash, and phosphor- 
ic acid, the manure will also be rich and more valuable. I 
have a table in my pocket showing the dry matter and the 
fertilizing constituents in a thousand pounds of the dif- 
ferent materials. 

Dry Matter, Nitrogen, Phosphoric, Potash, 
Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. Pounds. 

Cornmeal 871 15.8 6.3 4.0 

Oats 889 18.6 7.7 5.9 

Bran 883 26.7 28.9 16.1 

Clover 887 20.7 3.8 22.0 

From this you see that bran is the highest in nitrogen 
and phosphoric acid, and that clover is the highest in pot- 
ash and the next highest in nitrogen. Oats are higher in 
nitrogen than corn meal. I feed a great deal of bran and 
clover. Alfalfa is high in nitrogen and potash, and I am 
beginning to feed more and more of it every year. I con- 
sider alfalfa one of the very best of feeds. 



MANURE 45 

Saunders. Your figures convince me at once, and I 
am glad you have shown them to me. You know I am a 
trader, and I like to trade if I am bettering my condition. 
If I were to sell two thousand pounds of shelled corn and 
buy with the same money two thousand pounds of bran, 
and feed the bran, I would be getting more nitrogen, phos- 
phoric acid, and potash, and thus my stock would make 
better manure. Of course, if I wanted to fatten the stock 
I would not want to make the exchange. Am I thinking 
right, Mr. Finley? 

Finley. I believe you are. The figures I have given 
you are chemical analyses, and my limited experience bears 
them- out. 

Drcnan. It is nearly dinner-time, and I expect we had 
better go back home. By the time we get there, dinner will 
be ready. 

Satmders. 1 want to thank you, Mr. Finley, for show- 
ing me around your place, and I hope that the next time 
I come down to visit Drenan we can see you feeding and 
milking your cows, and I can then see the practical side. 

Drcnan. Good-morning, Mr. Finley; you and your 
family come over to see us. 

Saunders. Good-morning, Mr. Finley. If you are 
ever in Fleming County be sure and come to see me, and I 
will show you horses and mules, and how I farm. 

Drenan. This dirt road you see here has just been 
graded by the road overseer, and is not in as good condi- 
tion as I would like to see it. You see that it is graded up 
high and w^ell drained, and when it settles it will make a 
good road. I understand that they are going to put a 
pike here next year. Jefferson County has good roads, and 
the county officials are doing the best they can to make 
them good. In my opinion, nothing benefits a community 
more than good roads. Lands increase in value, and the 
community at large is much benefited. I wish I had the 
time to take you all over the county and show you the fine 
roads we have. You would be much pleased. 

Saunders. I learned some valuable things while talk- 
ing to you and Mr. Finley — that manure from animals is 
most valuable when it is first voided ; that the liquid ma- 
nure is more valuable than the dry; that fermentation 



46 CORN CULTURE 

must be kept down to save as much of the nitrogen, potash, 
and phosphoric acid as we can; that this can be done by 
having plenty of short, dry bedding that will absorb the 
liquid manure; that it must be compacted as much as 
possible to prevent the escape of the volatile gases; that 
the quality of the manure depends upon the kind of food 
that is eaten; that if the food is rich in nitrogen, the ma- 
nure will be rich; that it is best to spread the manure on 
the land as soon as possible, and with a manure-spreader. 
I was impressed by a number of other things that were 
said, and which will be useful in the future, 

Drenan. Here is a field of cow-peas, and the growth is 
very rank and heavy. I am going to turn them under as 
green manure. I took a great deal of pains to have this 
field properly plowed. You know plowing the land prop- 
erly is all-important. 



CHAPTER X. 

PLOWING 

Saunders. Yes, it is. I know that when I plow my 
land as it should be done, I get good results. It is a serious 
question as to the best way to plow. Some believe in deep 
plowing, and others do not. Some use the old-fashioned 
turn plow, and others believe in the disk plow and not too 
deep plowing. As for me, I believe in a deep seed-bed. I 
do not think the bottom should be turned to the top, but the 
top of the soil should be turned, and then a plow should 
run in the same furrow and the bottom plowed up either 
by a disk or a turning plow. What are your ideas, Dren- 
an? I have been permitting you to tell your opinion first, 
but 1 am venturing now to express mine before you do 
yours. 

Drenan. I have thought, read, and observed much in 
regard to the best way to plow. I believe the closer we fol- 
low Nature, the better we are. Nature sends down into the 
soil deep roots of trees and plants, to open the way for the 
air to penetrate. They aid to pulverize the soil and to put 
it in proper condition for plants to flourish. Another 
thing is, the soil at the surface is usually richer in nitrogen 
and humus. If you should plow too deep and turn up the 
soil, say twelve inches, and turn the soil completely upside 
down, you will put the richest soil too deep ; you slmt out 
the oxygen, and perhaps the plant roots would not reach 
the humus. Now I have a plow which I bought from a 
manufacturing plant near here, and it is an extra good 
plow, but however careful I am, I cannot help having 
some of the lower soil get to the top of the ground. This 
plow that I have is a turning plow. This plow is carried 
tlirough the ground with force, and it compresses the earth 



48 CORN CULTURE 

and makes the bottom of the furrow very smooth. This 
pressing of the soil together interferes with soil ventilation 
and soil temperature. The hydrated colloid which I told 
you about in clay is pressed closer together, and the soil 
becomes more impervious to penetration by plant roots. 
Ever since I have owned a farm, I have always thought the 
sulky turning plow was one of the best ever made, and I 
have often said I would not swap it for any I ever saw. I 
have changed my mind since seeing the different plows in 
this part of the country. Our neighbor, Mr. Finley, has a 
double disk plow and it does fine work, and one man can do 
the work of two. The plow he uses is manufactured by 
Long & Allsatter, Hamilton, Ohio. I have watched it 
work, and I want to say to you that it is a good one. There 
is much to be said about a disk plow. Somehow or other 
I have had a prejudice against them. Why I should have 
had it, 1 am unable to say. My belief now is, after seeing 
them work, that disk plows are not only the best but really 
the only kind to use. 

The disk plow just breaks off the soil from the soil be- 
low, and there is not that pressing together of soil grains 
nor is there that slick bottom in the furrow. The soil is 
thus better aerated and pulverized, and it is easier for the 
plant roots to go through. Plant roots are not confined 
merely to taking up ready-formed solutions ; they are able 
to attack some of the solid ingredients in the soil and ap- 
propriate them. The root-hairs come in contact wdth these 
hard and solid parts and they secrete an acid sap, in the 
nature of carbonic acid, that makes the solid part soluble, 
and the plant thus appropriates it. The disk plow puts 
the ground in proper condition so that this change can take 
place. I intend to have nothing but disk plows on the place 
as soon as I am able to buy them. 

Plowing the soil and getting it ready for the seed-bed 
is all-important. 

Saunders. You have said nothing in regard to deep 
plowing. I am a firm believer in deep plowing, and I have 
had remarkable success with it. 

Drenan. From what I have seen, I am also a believer 
in deep plowing. One of my neighbors by the name of 
Moreman has a plow that is a wonder. It is a double disk, 



PLOWING 49 

and is so constructed that one disk follows another. The 
front disk will plow to the depth that you want, and the 
rear disk will also plow to the depth you want. The rear 
one goes in the same furrow and cuts it deeper. This is 
not turned on top, and is in the bottom, of the furrow. I 
believe you can plow from eighteen to twenty inches deep 
with this plow. It is known as the Spalding Deep Tilling 
Plow, and is manufactured by the Gale Manufacturing 
Company, Albion, Michigan. I saw a field turned with 
this plow and I never saw better work, and the crop on the 
field this year shows for itself. It is certainly a very fine 
field of corn. This is the kind of a plow to use, and it is a 
wonder that more of them are not used. I have given the 
name, so if you want to send for a catalogue you can do so. 
It will pay you to investigate the matter. You thus in- 
crease the depth of the seed-bed by deep plowing, and have 
the other beneficial attendants that I have mentioned. 

The old Romans practiced deep plowing, and much 
plowing. The learned Cato said: "What is the first prin- 
ciple of good agriculture ? To plow well. "What is the sec- 
ond? To plow again; and the third is to manure." 

The Flemish farmers were great producers, and they 
plowed deep ; the English farmers in England plow deep. 
It is claimed that deep plowing has been the foundation for 
the restoration of the fertility of the soil, which had been 
depleted. Some men have told me of the wonderful things 
accomplished by deep plowing in the preparation of the 
seed-bed. One man told me that he had never been able 
to raise anything until he had plowed very deep. He said 
that the soil had been opened up and new life had come 
into it. I am prepared to believe it. It should be practiced 
on heavy clay soils especially. I believe we should pro- 
ceed with judgment in this, as in all other matters. 

Saunders. Some people think the fertility of the soil 
can be increased by constant cultivation, and claim if the 
soil could be broken up several times during the year it 
would be very much benefited. My idea is, you must have 
organic matter to make humus, and if you have constant 
cultivation you will not have it. It is my understanding 
that there is more potash and phosphoric acid in the sub- 
soil than in the surface, and if this is so, the ground should 



50 CORN CULTURE 

be broken about eight or nine inches with a good turning 
plow, so that the soil would be turned upside down. This 
would enable the elements to go again into the soil where 
tliere is more nitrogen. Turn it up again the next spring, 
and you have a better distribution of the elements and a 
better crop to follow. The plow you have is manufactured 
in Louisville, and is an extra good one. I think it one of 
the best makes on the market. I have used it for a number 
of years. The disk plow may be good, but in ray opinion 
the turning plow is the better. I have raised some big 
corn crops with it, and you know I am almost a Missourian, 
and "you must sliow me." Your present com crop proves 
what can be done witli the turning plow. When you beat 
it with a disk plow, let me know; I want to see it. 

Drenan. You may be right, Saunders. I intend to 
experiment some next year, and I will let you know the 
results. Your reasoning about the potasli and phosphoric 
acid going to the surface soil when it is completely turned, 
impresses me, and I intend to do some investigation. I 
know you are an experienced farmer and have been very 
successful, and success is what counts. I have no pride of 
opinion about anything I have said. My only aim and ob- 
ject is to arrive at correct results. I am in a position now 
to see what can be done, by watching my neighbors and 
experimenting myself. 

Here we are at home. I see dinner is ready, and I know 
Mrs. Drenan will enjoy very much having you with us. 
Mrs. Drenan, here is our old friend, IVIr. Saunders. He 
will be with us for dinner. 

Mrs. Drenan. Good morning, Mr. Saunders, how do 
you do? I am so glad to see you. It has been some time 
since I saw you. How is your family? 

Saunders. They are all well. I am glad to see you 
looking so well. The last time I saw you, you did not look 
in good health. 

Mrs. Drenan. I lived then in Louisville. Some way or 
other I contracted typhoid fever, and came near dying. 
Since my recovery I have been in better health, I have 
been out here in the country breathing this fresh air and 
eating fresh food, and I feel so much better. 



CHAPTER XI 

DINNER AND CANNED GOODS 

Saunders. I am certainly glad to see you looking so 
well. I have enjoyed the morning very much with Mr. 
Drenan, and it is a great pleasure to see you and him once 
again. 

Mrs. Drenan. Mr. Drenan and I have often talked of 
you. He is very devoted to you. You were one of his early 
clients, and you helped and encouraged him. He has never 
forgotten it. I don't believe there is any obstacle so high 
that it would prevent his coming to you, if you needed him. 

Saunders. You know, Mr. Drenan and I have been 
friends for a long time; he has been my confidential law- 
yer, and we have fought a number of battles together, and 
I am glad to say we have had good luck. 

Mrs. Drenan. By complimenting Mr. Drenan, I see 
you know how to please me. Whoever is Mr. Drenan 's 
friend is also my friend. Well, dinner is ready; come in, 
all of you. Mr. Saunders, you will please take this seat on 
my right. I am not going to let Mr. Drenan monopolize all 
your time. I want to hear more about the good people of 
Fleming County. 

Saunders. I saw in the Fleming County Gazette that 
you had taken the premium on a lot of canned goods at 
the State Fair this year, and that your daughter, Mary, 
had taken the prize on some cake. I want to congratulate 
both of you. 

Mrs. Drenan. Yes, I received a premium on canned 
corn on the cob, one on canned tomatoes, one on canned 
cherries, one on pepper relish, and one on beans. 



52 CORN CULTURE 

Saunders. Five! I want to congratulate you again. 
You say canned corn on the cob? That is something new, 
is it not ? 

Mrs. Drenan. Yes; the process is easy, simple, and 
complete. Mr. Drenan saw some Economy jars somewhere 
in his travels, and after hearing a lecture in regard to 
them he purchased a lot and brought them home. I was a 
little skeptical at first, but since using them I find the 
Economy jar perfect in every detail. 

Drenan. Now don't forget to tell, Mrs. Drenan, how 
you were finally and fully convinced. If she doesn't tell it, 
i will. 

Mrs. Drenan. My husband thinks he has such a fine 
joke on me, I am not going to deprive him of the pleasure 
of telling it. 

Drenan. "We had been out to the Pacific Coast on a 
vacation, and had started back home. Mrs. Drenan, Mary, 
and I were sitting in a dining car of the Northern Pacific, 
looking at the beautiful scenery as we were crossing the 
Rockies. We had just finished eating dinner, and we had 
had as part of the dinner corn on the cob. Mrs. Drenan 
remarked that it was as fine corn as she had ever eaten, 
''sweet, delicious, and fresh." I never saw any one enjoy 
eating corn from the cob any more than she did. She made 
her remarks more emphatic by saying she did not see why 
the farmers in Kentucky could not raise as good corn for 
eating as they do in California. I believe she really wanted 
me to buy a barrel of it and bring it home with me. About 
the time she was praising so much the freshness and fine 
condition of the corn, I saw a twinkle in the eye of the 
master of the dining car, and I came immediately to the 
conclusion that it was canned in "Economy jars." So I 
said to her, this corn was perhaps raised in Kentucky or 
Illinois, and that I believed it was put up in ''Economy 
jars." She said, "Oh, no. It is impossible. It must have 
been raised in California, and it was no doubt plucked yes- 
terday. It is too fresh and sweet for canned corn. Im- 
possible to be canned corn ! ' ' After talking in this way a 
little longer, the old proverbial phrase was used, "I bet 
you it is not canned corn," and I answered back, "I bet 
you it is canned corn!" 



DINNER AND CANNED GOODS 53 

"We called finally to the master of the diner and he 
came, and after telling him the difference of opinion, he 
told us it was canned corn on the cob, and went to the 
kitchen and brought us one of the "Economy jars" that 
had it in. It took, however, the jar with some corn in it 
to finally convince Mrs. Drenan, and from that time she 
has been an ardent supporter and user of the "Economy 
jars." 

Mrs. Drenan. I admit I was deceived, and I am glad 
now I was. It has made me enthusiastic about canning, 
and I have not been negligent about putting up things. 
You must see my pantry filled with the different things I 
have canned. 

Saunders. How much canning have you done, Mrs. 
Drenan ? 

3Irs. Drenan. I have over one hundred half-gallon 
jars with corn on the cob, fifty quarts of beans, seventy- 
five quarts of tomatoes, one hundred quarts of cherries, and 
quite a lot of others. I think we certainly have enough for 
winter. 

Drenan. It is a fine sight to see them all. When the 
beans are cooked, you cannot tell them from fresh beans. 
In fact, I would rather have them. 

Saunders. How do you fix the corn when you can it 
on the cob ? 

3Irs. Drenan. We get nice good corn and take the silk 
off' it, and have the ear clean in every particular. We then 
put as many ears in the jar as we can, without bruising 
them. We then fill the jars with clean water, put on the 
top, and fix a clamp, which is with the jar, on it. We 
then put it in a boiler bought from Stahl & Company, 
Quincy, Illinois. The jars do not rest on the bottom. They 
rest on rolled tin, and the water can pass under them. 
The boiler is then filled with water up to the neck of the 
jars. A top is then placed on the boiler, and it is put on 
the fire and boiled for five hours continuously from the 
time it begins to boil. As the water evaporates, boiling 
water is added to keep the water up to the neck of the jars. 
When it has boiled the time required, we take out the jars 
and place them so no draft can reach them, and let them 
cool gradually. In two days we take off the clamp. The 



54 CORN CULTURE 

top is made of a metal which has peculiar qualities. When 
it is heated it expands, and when cooled it contracts, and 
makes the jar air-tight. Sometimes a top does not act per- 
fectly. The jar is again boiled, and another top put on it. 
You soon tell whether the tops fit by tapping them with a 
piece of metal. Those that make a perfect fit have a pe- 
culiar sound, and you can soon learn to tell it. The tops 
are watched for nine mornings, and if no tops have come 
off they are set aside as completed. With every dozen cans, 
there is a booklet which tells of the length of time the dif- 
ferent things have to be boiled, and all one has to do is to 
follow the directions. I do not believe we will have to buy 
any canned goods this year. 

Saunders. I am so glad you have told me about your 
canning. It seems to me this solves the problem, and that 
it will be easy for any one to can the different things she 
wants for the winter, and can thus help to save a large item 
of expense. Living has become so costly that we have to 
look ahead and save what we can, and then too we know 
everything is pure and unadulterated. 

Airs. Drenan. I feel very proud of my pantry. It is 
not only pretty to look at, but very useful besides. 

Drenan. You are not half as proud of it as I am. It 
is a big saving for me, and your great success in canning 
has put me to thinking. I believe every man should can 
his fruits and sell them as finished products, and thus get a 
big price for them. In the place of selling his cherries by 
the bucketful he should can them and sell the canned 
goods; likewise his plums, asparagus, corn, and berries. 
The successful farmer can do this, and the time is coming 
when these small manufacturers will play an important 
part in the economic uplift of the people. 

Saunders. I want to say to you, Drenan, you have 
good ideas, and it is a great pity you can not put all of 
them into execution. I believe you are a good thinker and 
a very practical man. Mrs. Drenan has blazed the way for 
you to become a large manufacturer, and if you do not it 
is your own fault. Every person has to eat, and you can 
find a sale for everything. 

Mrs. Drenan. I know you men will want to talk poli- 
ties and business, and if you so desire you can go into the 



DINNER AND CANNED GOODS 55 

library, where I know Mr, Drenan will no doubt want xo 
show you the latest additions to it. He seems to prize them 
very highly. 

Drenan. I am going to take Mr. Saunders this after- 
noon to Louisville in the automobile, and, Mrs. Drenan, 
we will be more than delighted to have you go with us if 
you can spare the time. 

Mrs. Drenan. I will be more than pleased to go. As I 
have quite a number of things to look after before I can 
go, yoTi will excuse my presence. I will try and be ready to 
suit your convenience. 

Drenan. Take this old mission rocker, it is such an 
easy and comfortable chair. I do not smoke myself, but I 
keep cigars here for my friends. Here is a Henry Clay; 
will you have one? 

Saunders. No, I thank you, I never smoke. I believe 
it is not only a bad habit, but very injurious to health. 
Nicotine is a deadly poison, and I cannot see how any one 
would want to use it. 

Drenan. I was once a constant smoker. I really en- 
joyed it. It began to affect my heart and I was compelled 
to stop. It was a struggle, but I have no desire to smoke 
at all now. 



CHAPTER XII 



SEED CORN 



Saunders. When we were talking this morning, I un- 
derstood from you that you believed that ground should be 
plowed deep, and that the seed-bed should be thoroughly 
pulverized. I believe you are right, and in my opinion a 
corn crop is half cultivated when the seed-bed is put in 
proper condition. In addition, I believe we should take 
the greatest care in selecting seed corn, and we should 
have the best corn we can get. 

You know, Drenan, I am a trader in horses, cattle, hogs, 
and in fact any live stock. It is my aim to get the best in- 
dividual and from the best stock that I can. It pays. There 
is more development and more chances to make money. "We 
get the best colt from the best parents and likewise the 
best cow and hog. If the theory of evolution is right, we 
should have the best corn which came from the best. I be- 
lieve that we do not pay enough attention to these matters. 

Drenan. You are right. There is the same reason in 
the vegetable world for high development as there is in the 
animal. I want to give you some experience I have had 
in this line. I had a farm out on Preston Street Road, and 
had what I considered a good crop of com. One day I saw 
a stalk of corn with three ears on it. They were good ears. 
I saved them and the next year I planted them, and had 
a number of stalks with three ears on them, and some even 
had four. I believe we should take the lower ears on the 
stalk if we want to breed a com that will produce more. 
In my opinion, the lower ear is the best. Before it could 
reproduce itself, there is a probability that it would have 
to produce the other two ears. The lower ear comes on 
last, and hence the tendency or at least a probability that 



SEED CORN 57 

there will be the same number of ears as was on the parent 
stem. I worked with this in view. I have been breeding 
the corn you have seen this morning with a view of pro- 
ducing just such results as you see have come about. To 
my surprise I have the stalk with eight ears on it. They are 
good ones, and I am going to send you a picture of the 
corn and the stalk. You see that in the eight-acre field 
there is hardly a stalk with only one ear on it. They are 
all either two, three, or four. I have gone over the field 
and I can't find a single stalk with but one ear on it. I 
believe this is the result of saving only the seed corn where 
the stalk had three or more ears on it. 

Farmers do not pay enough attention to seed corn. If 
they went about everything else as they do with corn, there 
would be very little advancement made. What would you 
think of a man breeding his fine Duroc sow to a little scrub- 
by mountain boar? We would think he was losing his mind. 
Yet we think it is all right for him to get his seed corn 
from a plant which had a dwarf stalk by it. The pollen 
from the inferior plant fertilizes the stalk of the better 
plant, and thus we have a weakened production. A farmer 
usually does not think of the seed corn until the next 
spring, and then he goes to the crib, if he has any corn in 
it, or he goes to the nearest seed store and buys what he 
wants for planting. He does not know the kind, where 
raised, or its physical condition. No wonder there are so 
many failures. 

Saunders. It would be a good idea for every neighbor- 
hood to encourage some specialist in the same to devote 
some special attention to development of good seed corn. 
It would be cheaper to give him five dollars per bushel, or 
•even ten dollars. Every farmer cannot specialize in this 
line, and it would really be to his best interest to encourage 
and buy at a high price. 

Drenan. If you go into a field and notice closely you 
will be surprised to see the number of barren stalks. It is 
estimated that these approximate at least 10 to 15 per cent. 
A good breeder of corn will see that there are no barren 
•stalks in the field, and he will save only good ears and those 
that conform to the kind he wants. He is always selecting 
the best and most uniform ear, and only ears that are pro- 



68 CORIi CULTURE 

duced on strong and vigorous stalks, and he will minimize 
the effect of inbreeding. If he cannot get corn that has 
been bred with care, he should look after the seed corn the 
best he can. He should select the variety he wants, and 
then watch it and develop it the best he can. I believe the 
kind to have is a corn that has good-sized kernels, wedge- 
shaped, with large germ and a medium-sized cob. It should 
have a well-developed stalk, not too high, and vigorous and 
extensive root development. 

Saunders. Of course, if you have these you will have a 
good ear. 

Drenan. The farmer who is going to select the seed 
corn from his own field should be certain and cut out all 
the barren stalks. The pollen from these may injure a lot 
of his corn. In the first place they are not worth growing, 
and in the next place they will take some of the strength of 
the soil, and thus rob the others of it. He should prevent 
inbreeding as much as possible. He can do this by pulling 
out the tassels of every other row. This should be done as 
they are coming out. It will not hurt the stalk, and in fact 
may do it some good. It has been estimated that upon a 
well-developed tassel there are between thirty-five to sixty 
millions of pollen grains. It takes chemical force to pro- 
duce these, and the same force can go to making larger ears. 

Saunders. Then you believe it possible to make corn 
where there is no inbreeding? This could be done by not 
having grains of corn off the same cob close to each other^ 
and by detasseling every other hill. 

Drenan. There would be some inbreeding, but it would 
be reduced. It is said that the pollen will fly through the 
air for at least a quarter of a mile, so there will be some 
danger of inbreeding. I have noticed that the tassel of 
some corn matures sooner than silk does on the same stalk. 
In this case the pollen off the same stalk will not fertilize 
the silk, and it must be fertilized from some other stalk. I 
would not be surprised if this is not the way Nature pro- 
vides against inbreeding. There is no doubt but inbreed- 
ing deteriorates the corn. 

The Illinois Experiment Station has demonstrated that 
when corn is inbred the size of the com diminishes, a weak- 
ness develops, and a general deterioration of the vitality 



SEED CORN 59 

of the stalk takes place. This being the case, we should 
prevent inbreeding as much as possible. 

Saunders. You mentioned a little while ago that the 
seed corn should grow upon a vigorous stalk. This is cer- 
tainly right. If you do not want it for silo, the stalk should 
not be too high. It should be of medium size, and the 
blades be broad and vigorous. The leaves are the lungs of 
the plant, and I believe it is of prime importance that they 
be very healthy. 

Drenan. I see from the way you are talking you have 
given the matter much thought, and that whenever I ad- 
vance an idea you advance a better one. Without a good 
stalk and leaves, you will not have much of an ear of corn. 
The green leaves have on them many chlorophyl cells, and 
these absorb carbonic acid gas and evolve oxygen. The 
carbonic acid gas absorbed goes to help the rootlets to put 
the hard substances into proper condition to help sustain 
plant life, and performs other useful functions in develop- 
ment. The blades have also on the underside many small 
openings, known as stomata. When the stalk is well sup- 
plied with water, these stomata open ; when there is a 
drouth they close. The evaporation of the water from the 
leaves through these stomata is most important, and is the 
principal cause of the rise of the sap, which draws up 
water from the soil, which contains plant food in solution, 
and thus causes the corn to grow. In case there is a drouth 
these stomata close, as I have said, and there is not much 
evaporation and but little rise in sap, and there can be but 
little plant food taken from the soil, and hence very little 
corn is raised. The blades thus perform an important 
function, and great care should be taken not to break, 
bruise, or injure any of them. The parent stalk of seed 
corn should then have broad, vigorous, and healthy blades, 
and it is very important to see they are such. 

Saunders. I know the seed-corn stalk should have ex- 
tensive root development, but the trouble with me is to 
know when a stalk has it. 

Drenan. I suppose that the size of the stalk, its gen- 
eral appearance, the strength and firmness of the secondary 
roots, wliich are sent out from the stalk a short distance 
above the ground to hold it in position, the general condi- 



60 CORN CULTURE 

tion of the ground as to how it is pulverized, and fertility 
of same. 

Saunders. While these things are to be observed care- 
fully, we should watch very carefully how the ear grows 
from the stalk. It should not have too long a shank, and 
should when mature bend a little downward. The husks 
should be firm and long enough to cover well the ear. 

Drenan. I believe every farmer should go through his 
field and select his seed corn before it is cut or gathered, 
lie can select what he thinks to be the best, then tie a cot- 
ton string around it, and when the time comes to gather, 
lie can put his selections together, and they can be subject 
to the further tests he will make before he finally decides 
which to use. 

Saunders. That is a great deal of trouble, but I be- 
lieve it will repay one. 

Drenan. After one has gathered his seed-corn he 
should make his selections, and put them away in a dry, 
cool place. I believe it is best to tie them with a string, 
putting about half a dozen on a string, and then hang them 
up, in the kind of place I have mentioned. 

Saunders. I have done this for several years past, and 
I know it has more than repaid me for the trouble. In select- 
ing the corn to be used I have paid more attention to the 
kernel than to the size and shape of the ear. It is the ker- 
nel we want. You can have a fine-looking ear and a very 
poor kernel. However, a good kernel can be found on a 
t3T)ical ear, and it is best to combine all the good qualities 
if we can. 

Drenan. You have extra good ideas, and as they are 
based upon experience they are certainly worth something. 
I am glad you came to see me; I have certainly learned a 
great deal from you. I believe we should have a good ear, 
and one that conforms to all the requirements of a standard 
ear. We should pay attention to the shape of the ear, its 
uniformity, its color, the tips, the butt, the circumference, 
the length, the ripeness, the kernel shape, the kernel uni- 
formity, the space between the rows, and the proportion of 
corn to cob. What kind of a shaped ear do you like ? 

Saunders. I do not like an ear that tapers too quickly 
from the butt to the tip. I like the ear to be nearly the 



SEED CORIs' 61 

same size from the butt to the tip, and round over very 
rapidl.y at the tip. 

Drcnan. A slender ear and one that tapers rapidly is 
a sure sign of weakness and a lack of constitution. The 
ears should not taper to a point. We find on such ears that 
the butt kernels are large and the tip kernels very small, 
and there would also be a very small percentage of corn to 
cob. What you want is all the corn you can get. If we 
could calculate by calculus the maximum amount of corn 
on a cob we would find that it was on a cob that is about the 
same size at both ends. 

There should be a uniformity in the ears as to size, 
shape, and general characteristics. Irregularity shows bad 
judgment in the selection, and is evidence of a very poor 
breeder. We should notice the indentations on the tops of 
the kernels, the color and the straightness of the rows. By 
all means have the rows straight on the cob and parallel 
with each other. We find so many cobs with the rows of 
corn winding in a spiral fashion. We should not select 
this kind. 

Saunders. Some people like yellow corn and some like 
white. I like the yellow corn the better. 

Drenan. I do not think there is any difference, so far 
as the constituent elements of food are concerned. If you 
have yellow corn, it should have a red cob. If the corn is 
white, it should have a white cob. Never have yellow corn 
on a white cob or white corn on a red cob. It is considered 
a sign of very poor breeding, and if your corn was being 
judged at the Fair it would be thrown out or stand a very 
poor show of winning. 

The tips should be well rounded and well filled. The 
failure of the tips to be filled is usually the result of the 
pollen not reaching the silk. The rounding of the tip shows 
that the ear has matured evenly and that all the kernels 
will be fertile. It indicates full maturity, and hence a 
probability of sure growth when planted. 

The butts should be well filled and the kernels should 
stand out about the shank. When the cob is broken off 
the shank there should be a small hollow left. We thus 
get a larger proportion of corn to cob. A cob of corn that 
has a slightly filled butt, has a large shank and is difficult to 



62 CORN CULTURE 

break the cob off it. It is difficult to husk, and this is very 
undesirable in any kind of corn. 

The circumference of the corn should be about three- 
fourths of the length of the ear. The circumference can 
be from six and a half inches to seven and a half. 

The length of the ear should be at least eight and a half 
inches. The longer you can get it, and have uniformity of 
size of cob, the better it is. I have some ears of corn on the 
field you have seen that are at least twelve inches long. I 
intend to have an ear at least ten inches long, and three of 
them on a stalk. If this can be done, I see no reason why 
one should not raise two hundred bushels of corn to the 
acre. 

When the corn is ripe it is firm, and when a sharp 
twist is given there is a crisp, rasping sound. When the 
rows are loose so that you could run a knife down between 
the kernels, it is a good sign that the ear has not matured. 
If such an ear should be planted it is probable that a num- 
ber of the kernels would not sprout, and would be weakling 
if they did. By all means have the seed corn well matured. 
There should be no space on the furrows between the rows 
of kernels, and no space between the kernels near the cob. 
What we want is the greatest amount of corn on the cob 
that can be gotten. The more space there is between the 
rows of corn on the cob the less number of rows there will 
be on the cob, and the more space there is between the ker- 
nels the less number of kernels there will be on the cob. So 
the spacing should be carefully looked after. 

Saunders. You have been talking about shape of the 
. ear, its length, circumference, ripeness, the tips and butts, 
but what interests me more than anything else is the ker- 
nel. What I want is corn. I want the most I can get, or 
the greatest amount. In my opinion, this can be gotten 
when the kernel is wedge-shaped. The longer they are the 
better it is, provided the rows fit closely. 

Drenan. You have anticipated me a little. Your ob- 
servation is very keen, and from what you say you are no 
doubt an extra good corn-raiser. The cob is a cylinder, or 
nearly so in the perfect ear. The full ear with the kernels 
on it is also a cylinder. There is a space between the cob 
cylinder and the corn cylinder. The cob cylinder being 



SEED CORN 63 

smaller than the corn cylinder, in order for the kernels to 
fill this space they have to be wedge-shaped. If they are in 
other shape, there will be lost space. For instance, say they 
are more of a square shape, there will be of necessity some 
space between the rows of corn on the cob, and some space 
between the kernels on the cob. We see then that the ker- 
nels on the perfect ear should be wedge-shaped. I have 
some pictures of corn that has a perfect ear, and some that 
has not, and also some pictures of kernels showing what 
are good and what are not, and I am going to give you 
some, so you can take them home with you. I find that I 
can study and learn from a good picture almost as much as 
if I had the corn to look at. It is better, however, to have 
the ear or kernels, so you can handle them. 

Orange, Judd & Company, of New York, are publishers 
of some very good agricultural books, and they have framed 
some rules about corn that are useful to have. I con- 
sider them all right. Some corn-growers in the different 
States have formulated some other rules. These rules have 
not been formulated very long, and as corn culture has 
been much considered of late, these rules or others are 
very useful. I consider them so good that I am going to 
give you a copy of them: 



SCORE CARD FOR CORN AND EXPLANATION OF POINTS 

1. Trueness to Type or Breed Characteristics 10 

The ten ears of the sample should possess similar 

or like characteristics and should be true to the 
variety which they represent. 

2. Shape of Ear 10 

The shape of the ear should conform to variety 
type, tapering slightly from butt to tip, but ap- 
proaching the cylindrical. 

3. Color — a. Grain 5 

b. Cob 5 

The color of the grains should be true to variety 
and free from mixture, with the exception of a 
few varieties. White corn should have white cobs, 
yellow corn red cobs. 



64 CORN CULTURE 

4. Market Condition (vitality, maturity, etc.) 10 

The ears should be sound, firm, well matured, and 
free from mold, rot or insect injuries. 

5. Tips 5 

The tips of the ears should not be too tapering and 
should be well filled 'with regular uniform kernels. 

6. Butts 5 

The rows of kernels should extend in regular or- 
der over the butt, leaving a deep depression when 

the shank is removed. Open and swelled butts are 
objectionable. 

7. Kernels — a. Uniformity of 10 

b. Shape of 5 

The kernels should be uniform in size, shape and 
color, and true to the variety type. The kernels 
should be so shaped that their edges touch from 
tip to crown. The germ or chit and the tip por- 
tions of the kernels are the richest in protein and 
oil, and hence of the highest feeding value. For 
this reason the germ should be large and the tip 
portion should be full and plump. 

8. Length of Ear 10 

Northern sections 8^ to 9^ inches; central sec- 
tions 8^4 to 9^ inches; southern sections 9 to 10 
inches. 

9. Circumference of Ear 5 

Northern sections 6^/2 to 7 inches ; central sections 
6% to 7^4 inches ; southern sections 7 to 7^ 
inches. 

10. Space — a. Furrow between rows 5 

b. Space between kernels at cob 5 

The furrow between the rows of kernels should be 
small. Space between kernels near the cob is very 
objectionable. 

11. Proportion of corn to cob 10 

The proportion of corn to cob is determined by 
weight. Depth of kernel, size of the cob and ma- 
turity affect the proportion. 

Total 100 



^EED CORN 65 

RULES TO BE USED IN JUDGING 

1. Length of Ear — The deficiency and excess in length 
of all ears not conforming to the standard shall be added 
together, and for every inch thus obtained, a cut of one 
point shall be made. 

2. Circumference of Ear — The deficiency and excess in 
circumference of all ears not conforming to the standard 
shall be added together, and for every two inches thus ob- 
tained, a cut of one point shall be made. Measure the cir- 
cumference at one-third the distance from the butt to the 
tip of the ear. 

3. Proportion of Corn to the Cob — Per cent of corn 
should be from 86 to 87. In determining the proportion of 
corn to cob weigh and shell every alternate ear in the ex- 
hibit. Weigh the cobs and subtract from the weight of the 
ears, giving the weight of the corn. Divide the weight of 
the corn by the total weight of ears, which will give the per 
cent of corn. For each per cent short of standard a cut of 
one and one-half points shall be made. 

4. In judging corn, a red cob in white corn or a white 
cob in yellow corn shall be cut at least two points. For one 
or two mixed kernels a cut of one-fourth point, for four or 
more mixed kernels, a cut of one-half point shall be made. 
Kernels missing from the ear shall be counted mixed. Dif- 
ference in shade or color, as light or dark red, white or 
cream color, must be scored according to variety character- 
istics. 

5. Exposed Tips — Where the full diameter of the cob 
is exposed, a cut of one point shall be made and a propor- 
tionate cut as the cob is less exposed. Regularity of the 
rows near the tip, and the size and the shape of the kernels, 
must also be considered in scoring tips. 

6. Scoring Butts — If the kernels are uniform in size 
and extend over the butt in regular order, give full mark- 
ing. Small and compressed or enlarged or open butts are 
objectionable, as are also those with flat, smooth, short ker- 
nels, and must be cut according to the judgment of the 
scorer. 

7. Each exhibit should consist of ten ears of corn. 



66 CORN CULTURE 

Saunders. I aim to save my seed corn in the fall. As 
soon as the corn is ripe and dry enough, I have my men go 
through the field and pick the ears that I have told should 
be gathered. After they are brought in, I select the best 
from these and then place the ears in a dry and cool place. 
They should never be put in the cellar. I believe that the 
best way is to tie them together with a string, as has been 
said, and then hang them up so that nothing can injure 
them. 

A bushel of corn will plant about seven acres of ground. 
By good cultivation one should raise one thousand bushels, 
which would well represent five hundred dollars. From a 
money point of view it is w(3rth while to see that we have 
good seed corn. 

When we have inferior seed, a number will not sprout, 
or do any good if they do. I am satisfied that there are 
at least ten out of every one hundred stalks of corn that 
are barren. This makes three hundred and sixty stalks 
barren in an acre, if the corn is planted three feet and six 
inches apart each way. This makes us lose fifty dollars 
from a planting of one bushel of seed corn. I believe, as 
you do, that the selection of seed corn is one of the most 
important things in farming, and it should certainly be at- 
tended to with great care. We cannot be too careful about 
it. I wish I could impress this upon every one as you see it. 

Drenan. I know a man who increased his yield per 
acre eighteen bushels by carefully selecting his seed corn. 
Suppose that only ten bushels increase to the acre could be 
shown. What a large addition this would be to the nation- 
al wealth ! 

In Kentucky, according to Bulletin 163, issued by the 
State Experimental Station at Lexington, there were 
3,436,340 acres in corn in 1910, and there were produced 
83,348,024 bushels, which made an average of 24.3 bushels 
per acre. Suppose there were an increase of fifteen bushels 
per acre because of the proper selection of seed corn, there 
would have been raised 135,048,162 bushels, and at fifty 
cents per bushel there would have been added to the 
wealth of the State $25,850,169. This and more could 
easily be done by the proper selection of seed corn. 

Prof. Holden, of Iowa, demonstrated the value of good 



SEED CORN ^ 67 

seed corn by increased yields. Gov. Cummings, of Iowa, 
says that the yield in Iowa has been increased 27,000,000 
bushels a year through the efforts of Prof. Holden. 

The proper selection and care of seed corn are indeed 
very important, and but little attention has been given to 
them. Besides, an increase in production is demanded. It 
is used in very many ways, and the demand is increasing. I 
wish I could write a letter to every farmer in the world 
and impress upon him the great importance of having good 
seed corn to plant. Some would pay attention to it and 
others would not. I believe that on the whole it would do 
much good. I feel like being useful and of some help to 
every one, and in this humble way, if I could tell how im- 
portant it is, I know I would be doing some good anyway. 
I see that you feel the same way. I am glad to know this. 

Saunders. While it is necessary to give much attention 
to selecting and taking care of seed corn, yet I believe 
proper cultivation of the ground also has much to do with 
producing a large crop of corn. 



CHAPTER XIII 

PLANTING AND CULTIVATION 

Brenan. Assuming that the seed-bed is properly pre- 
pared, we then plant the corn. It should not be planted 
until the weather is warm and suitable — so many people 
get in a hurry. Early planting is all right if the weather 
is warm and the corn which comes up is not hurt by cold 
or cut dov\Ti by frost. Of course it should not be planted 
so late that it would not mature. 

Saunders. People differ as to the depth corn should be 
planted. How deep do you plant your corn ? 

Drenan. I have a sandy field over here that is planted 
deeper than the clay field you see in front of us. 

Nature has stored enough food in the kernel for it to 
sprout and start to growing. It is better to plant deeper in 
sandy soil, so that the seed can get more moisture, and 
because of the looseness of the soil the plant can easily find 
its way to the air. It must have air and put out leaves, so 
it can live from the air and get food from the soil through 
its roots. 

The field in front of us is a clay soil and is heavy, and 
in order for the corn to germinate and reach the surface 
it must not be planted deep. Do you drill your corn, or 
how do you plant it ? 

jSaunders. I like to plant my corn so I can plow it both 
ways. I plant it three feet and six inches each way, and 
three grains in the hill and then thin to two. I have a drill 
that will plant three grains to the hill and cover well, and 
it has an attachment which fastens to a wire, and every 
time it strikes a cross-piece on the wire it drops the corn. 
You would be astonished to see how perfectly it is planted, 
and in such straight rows, too, at that. I consider the 



PLANTING AND CULTIVATION 69 

machine an extra good one, and would advise you to get 
it. It is named Evans' Planter and is manufactured at 
Springfield, Ohio. I would advise you to send and 
get a catalogue of the machine anyway, and then send for 
one when you can. There are quite a number in the mar- 
ket, and a person cannot make a mistake if he gets one from 
a standard manufacturer. 

Drenan. It is important to get the seed put into the 
ground properly, but I consider the cultivation and feed- 
ing of the plant from this time on to be of prime import- 
ance. What we have heretofore been talking about is very 
important — I consider that here is where the skilled farmer 
shows his skill and greatness. We plow corn for three rea- 
sons : First, to destroy the weeds ; second, to conserve the 
soil moisture; and third, to aerate the soil. If we do not 
kill the weeds they will take the plant food from the soil, 
and also the moisture. As the weeds are hardier and more 
thrifty, they will outstrip the corn and smother it to death, 
so to speak. No filthy field ever raised the maximum 
amount of corn. 

It is necessary to stir the ground a great deal to con- 
serve the soil moisture. When the ground is not plowed 
you will see little cracks in the ground, and these let out 
the moisture. The loose soil is like a blanket on the ground. 
If you place a blanket on the ground and let it stay any 
time, the earth under it will be moist. There is evaporation 
going on all the time, and when it comes to the surface, if 
it is covered with loose dirt it will keep it like the blanket 
and compel it to go out through the roots of the plant. In 
this way the plant will get the proper nourishment. By 
repeated plowing we make a loose mulch on the surface, 
and the capillarity is broken up and the moisture is re- 
tained. The plant thrives the best when it has plenty of 
moisture; cut it off and it dies, or give it an insufficient 
amount and it suffers accordingly. By keeping the soil 
mulched w^e prevent the escape of the moisture, or at least 
we keep it to a minimum. 

The different Experiment Stations, and especially the 
Wisconsin Station, say that there is not enough moisture 
in the soil in the United States, at any one place, to raise 
the greatest yield of corn. Then it is very necessary to 



70 CORN CULTURE 

conserve as much of it as we can. The leaves on the corn 
have little mouths on them, called stomata, and through 
these the moisture goes out. When it is very hot these little 
mouths open as wide as possible and the moisture goes 
through them and the temperature of the corn is kept at 
the proper degree. They are like the pores in the skin of 
an animal; thy permit the heat to pass out, and the tem- 
perature of the body is thus kept down. 

Saunders. I see from the reports given out by the Ex- 
periment Stations that moisture is conserved by frequent 
cultivation. I have seen large crops grow with shallow 
cultivation, and I have also seen large crops grow with 
deep cultivation. Ever since I saw the field of corn belong- 
ing to Mr. Bascom, in Bath County, raised by shallow cul- 
tivation, I have believed it to be the best. He raised about 
125 bushels of corn to the acre. It was at that time about 
the best yield in this country. Since then it has been 
passed. iVt that time it was considered about the best in 
the whole country. He did not plow over three inches. 

Drenan. The object of cultivation is to conserve the 
moisture and make it pass out through the roots and leaves. 
The Experiment Stations have been trying experiments 
for some time, and it has been fully shown that deep culti- 
vation will conserve the moisture better than shallow. 
When shallow cultivation, however, is used, there is more 
corn raised to the acre than when it is plowed deep. The 
reason for this is that every time we plow deep we cut the 
roots, and as these cannot grow together, the plant has to 
exert some energy to cover the wound and to start some 
more rootlets. Deep cultivation will then destroy one of 
the essential parts of the plant life, and if continued it 
will impair the vitality and cause a less yield. 

If you will take two rows of corn, and cultivate one 
deep and the other shallow, you will see the one which you 
have cultivated deep has the leaves turned up and looks 
sickly and produces less, while the otlier row will grow vig- 
orously, and under proper conditions of moisture will raise 
the maximum. I would say by all means to practice shal- 
low cultivation, and I would plow as frequently as I could, 
and especially soon after every rain. It is said that 
you need not plow only after every rain, but this plowing 



PLANTING AND CULTIVATION 71 

should be done as soon after a rain as possible. It should 
be cultivated as soon after a rain as can be done with 
safety. It is absurd to say we should wait until another 
rain before it is plowed again. It should be plowed often. 
I do not believe we can plow too much. Always keep the 
soil mulched well. As soon as we plow a good-sized field we 
should turn around and plow the other way. We can't 
plow it too often. 

Saunders. Do you plow with the shovel plows, disk, or 
tooth plows? 

Drenan. I have a plow with a number of little shovel 
plows on it, and I use this. I do not believe it is the best, 
but it is the best I can find. I have invented a plow of my 
own. It combines the small plows and several flat blades 
which go through the ground about two inches deep. These 
blades are so fixed that they cover the whole row, and we 
are sure every weed is cut off. It has the effect of leveling 
the dirt. I may apply for a patent on it. I do not know 
whether it has been made before or not. It is a good one. 
If any one wants to make one I will send him a drawing 
and he can easily make it. Never plow over three or four 
inches deep. I think I have a picture of the plow I have 
made, and I will give you one so you can take it home with 
you. You want the soil plowed, and then you want to be 
sure and have the weeds cut and the ground leveled. It is 
not so much the leveling that does good, but it shows that 
the blades have gone through the soil and that any weeds 
left have been cut. 

Saunders. I have not seen such a plow, and I wish 
you Avould make me one and send it to me, and I will pay 
you for your trouble. I am going to try and beat you 
raising corn another year. I have become very much en- 
thused. My prediction is that you will raise over one hun- 
dred bushels of corn to the acre. Did you feed the plant 
anything while it was growing? You know that some peo- 
ple have practiced feeding the plant while growing and 
have produced wonderful results. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

FEEDING THE PLANT 

Drenan. Yes, 1 feed the corn while it is growing, and 
I believe it right to do so. You know that manure adds ni- 
trogen, phosphoric acid, and potash to the soil, and also 
other elements. It puts the soil in such condition that the 
insoluble parts of the soil are made soluble, so that roots 
can take it up. It is not only useful for the three elements 
I mentioned, but the chemical condition it puts the ground 
in. The air can better get through the ground, and the 
carbonic and nitric acids — and perhaps also sulphuric acid 
— take hold of the iron and alum, and release the lime, mag- 
nesia, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash, so that the in- 
numerable mouths of the rootlets can take these in and we 
thus secure the maximum crop. I believe that the ground 
should be well manured and plowed under and the ground 
thoroughly pulverized, and if we had manure enough to 
again spread some on it, it would be better, and then har- 
row it' well in. 

When the corn is growing, it is my opinion it should 
also have some food. Cottonseed meal is said to have more 
nitrogen in it than any other substance. It is well to make 
your own fertilizer. A good mixture is two hundred pounds 
of cottonseed meal with six hundred pounds of acid phos- 
phate and two hundred pounds of muriate of potash. Put 
this on, three to five hundred pounds to the acre. Sow it 
broadcast, and then plow it well, but not deep. The roots 
of the corn have innumerable little mouths ready to grab 
it and take it through the cornstalk and blades and manu- 
facture the ear. The better it is fed the better finished 
product you will have. 

Two things are needed to raise the largest crop possi- 



FEEDING THE PLANT 73 

ble: First, available plant food during the period of 
growth ; second, abundance of moisture. If one has prac- 
ticed deep cultivation there will be plenty of moisture 
stored in the ground, and with the cultivation to make a 
soil mulch, one sliould raise a crop anyway, but of course 
it would not be as large as if it had plenty of rainfall. 

It has been determined that when fifty bushels of shelled 
corn is taken off the land, together with the fodder, you 
take with it eighty pounds of nitrogen, twenty-nine pounds 
of phosphoric acid, and forty-five pounds of potash. If 
you repeat this year after year, you see in what condition 
you put the land. By looking at the amounts of the differ- 
ent elements we can see what should be added. 

Saunders. You know that different lands require dif- 
ferent treatment, and we must use judgment in determin- 
ing what to put on. Vou certainly would not put as much 
nitrogen on a black soil as you would on a light, sandy soil. 
I expect we lose a great deal of money in not looking and 
using judgment. If we understood chemistry and knew 
the effect of different things on the soil we might get better 
results, and in fact I know we would. 

Drenan. If you will walk with me through the bottom 
field, you will see that I have not -used the same fertilizer on 
the different parts of it. On some parts I have put more 
potash and phosphoric acid, and on some other part I have 
added a larger quantity of nitrogen. It takes some experi- 
ence to tell what should be done. 

If you want to produce abundance of plant you must 
add the nitrogen, and if you want less plant but more roots, 
then add the potash. 

Wheat requires very little potash, while root crops re- 
quire a large lot of it. If we can afford it, it is best to have 
every element in the land. 

Saunders. I have a large bluegrass farm, and I raise 
a number of acres of corn, wheat, and oats. Sometimes I 
like one crop better than another, and it is really hard for 
me to tell which I do like best. 

Drenan. The corn crop is my favorite. I think it is 
one of the finest as well as the most important crop that 
grows. It reaches its growth during the hottest time of the 



74 CORN CULTURE 

year, and just when chemical changes are taking place more 
completely. It is, in my opinion, the king of crops. 

Corn is an ambitious forage. Sometimes the roots reach 
out in loose ground from ten to fifteen feet, and with vigor 
and strength into the remotest parts, and grab the iron and 
alum and other insoluble elements and lock them in em- 
brace, and pour upon them an ointment which compels 
them to weaken and finally to dissolve, and then they seize 
the parts and take such as are needed for their own life. Un- 
der proper conditions the work is magnificently done. 
Sometimes I am led to believe that corn helps to renew 
worn-out soil. It seems to be able to get sufficient nitrogen. 
In my opinion, corn needs plenty of potash and phosphoric 
acid. It is well to add these in the form of fertilizer. I 
do not mean to say that we should not add nitrogen, but 
what I do say is that corn seems to be able to get nitrogen 
from some source, even if it is not added. 

Saunders. I expect you are right. The uses for corn 
have increased, and it does look as if more and more will 
be raised in the future. Indeed a man is a benefactor of 
the human race who blazes the way for the farmer to in- 
crease very largely his output per acre. It can be done, 
and must and will be. Our forefathers have left a trail of 
desolation behind them. Extensive fields once raised mag- 
nificent crops, and to-day they are left desolate and alone. 
Nature is doing Avhat she can, but she needs the assistance 
of that magic wand which you call Science. Somehow or 
other I believe the time is near wlien these worn-out lands 
will be restored to almost primitive fertility. 

Drenan. You have been making me do a great deal of 
talking, and I see from what you say that you are no en- 
tered apprentice in the art of corn-raising yourself. 

Saunders. While I have given the subject some study 
and attention, I am free to admit that I have not given it 
the close study you have. You spoke something this morn- 
ing about ground limestone and ground phosphate rock. 
I am anxious to know more about these. I have heard the 
lecturers at the farmers' institute talk about lime and phos- 
phates, and I have been anxious to give them some study 
and also a trial on some land. You certainly don't believe 
that ground limestone is as good as burnt lime? 



CHAPTER XV 



LIME 



Drenan. Before going out to the field I will take some 
litmus paper with me, so we can test the soil and see 
whether it has too much acid or too much alkali, or is neu- 
tral. As I explained this morning, litmus paper is made 
of a vegetable substance, that will turn red when acid is 
put upon it and blue when an alkali is applied. 

Saunders. Where do you get this paper? 

Drenan. You can buy it from any druggist. Ten 
cents' worth will last several years. I put it in a bottle 
and cork it tightly, so as to keep it dry. Chemists use this 
paper constantly in experimenting. Indeed, they could 
not do without it. I believe that a knowledge of the quali- 
ties of litmus paper once saved my life. I was suffering 
with rheumatism, and had taken all kinds of medicine. 
Nothing seemed to do me any good. By the use of litmus 
paper, I found that there was too much acid in my blood. 
The paper became highly colored red when it came in con- 
tact with the secretions of the kidneys. I knew at once 
that I needed an alkali water to counteract and neutralize 
the acidity. I knew that the purest alkali water should 
come from the alkali lands of the Southwest. After trying 
several waters and studying their analyses, I found what 
was needed. I have been drinking water from Mineral 
AVells, Texas, for three years, and it has cured me. I am 
physically a new man, and believe I have a new lease on 
life. Send to the Gibson Well Water Company, Mineral 
Wells, Texas, and get a case. Before doing so, be sure 
and use the litmus paper. If the paper turns red when 
used, you should have the water. If it turns blue, you do 
not need it and should not have it. You would be adding 



76 CORN CULTURE 

fuel to the flame. You need acid to counteract the alkali. 
Drink more lemonade and diminish the salts. You can 
help Nature. 1 cannot understand why doctors do not use 
litmus paper in the diagnosis of every disease. They could 
certainly arrive at more accurate results, and it would be 
scientific, to say the least. 

Saunders. This litmus paper has wonderful proper- 
ties, and I will try and remember what you have said. I 
am anxious to see how you use it with soil. 

Drenan. Here, let us stop. Water has been standing 
upon this land for some time. You see I made a surface 
drain, and all the water has been carried off. I am now 
trying to put life into this land. I am now going to take 
up some soil and moisten it and roll it into a ball. I break 
the ball and put a piece of paper between the parts, and 
then place them back and let it stay from fifteen to forty- 
five minutes. I will let this one stay only five minutes. 
While we are waiting, let us go over to where I treated the 
soil with ground limestone. I am taking some soil from 
this and treating it as I did the other. I will now look at 
the paper. Here it is. You see it has turned slightly red, 
and I know therefore the soil has too much acid, and before 
it will raise clover, cow-peas, wheat, etc., this acidity must 
be corrected by an alkali. Tlie soil should be neutral. The 
paper should turn neither red nor blue, and should be a 
mixture of the two colors. 

Saunders. Let us now look at the other one. 

Drenan. You see this is not neutral, but has turned a 
little blue. I put on it some burnt lime, and I put on a 
little too much. If I had applied ground limestone instead 
of burnt lime, it would have been better. 

Saunders. This little piece of paper speaks volumes, 
doesn't it? What did you say was your reason for apply- 
ing lime? 

Drenan. Clover, alfalfa, and the leguminous plants are 
very sensitive to acid conditions, and the nitrogen-gather- 
ing and nitrifying bacteria will not thrive in such a soil, 
and hence you cannot raise these plants until this is cor- 
rected. 

The chief reason for using lime is to neutralize soil 
acidity. When organic matter is decaying, it is accom- 



LIME 77 

panied by the formation of acids, such as carbonic, nitric, 
and humic acids, and unless there is enough lime in the soil 
to sweeten it, bacteria will not thrive and some plants will 
not grow. 

Lime is used to correct, first, acidity in the soil ; sec- 
ond, to correct the bad physical conditions, especially stiff 
clay; third, to serve as a base for the union of acids set 
free by bacteria in the soil, especially nitrifying germs; 
fourth, to aid in setting free plant food ; and fifth, to aid in 
releasing phosphoric acid. Lime performs an important 
function. There is some lime in nearly all soils, but not in 
sufficient quantity to keep the land in sweet and *iDroper 
condition. It is easily leached out. You would be sur- 
prised to know the condition of some of the newest soil. I 
have some land across the creek that I cleared this last 
year, and the soil is very black. I was surprised to learn 
that it was deficient in lime. You can go to the Bluegrass 
of Kentucky, where the soil was originally made from lime- 
stone, and you will find a great portion of land deficient in 
lime. I was out to St. INlatthews, in this county, not long 
ago, and I found quite a lot of the land deficient in lime. 

Look at that seven-acre lot near the road. It was acid, 
and I could grow scarcely anything on it, I bought a car- 
load of ground lime and applied it. You see what a lux- 
uriant growth of cow-peas I have on it now. I have never 
seen anything like it. When it is cut I am satisfied there 
will be at least four tons to the acre. 

Lime is a disinfectant, and corrects conditions and 
makes pleasant habitations for the myriads of workers. 
It is necessary on rich soil because it neutralizes the acids 
which are necessarily made. Part of the corn field was 
clay, and the lime corrected it and made the soil loose and 
the ground was much benefited, as you can see from the 
corn crop. 

The corn roots make an acid in the soil. This was dis- 
covered by planting corn in a big jar with a glass bottom. 
The corn was given the best conditions in which to^ grow, 
with plenty of moisture and food while growing. When 
the corn had matured it was removed from the jar, and the 
glass bottom showed etchings on it which nothing but acid 
could make. No doubt you have noticed rocks which had 



78 CORN CULTURE 

some places on them which looked as if they had been 
chiseled out. These rocks were no doubt near the roots of 
some tree, and carbonic or nitric acid had been made by 
the roots and the acid had eaten these places. When vege- 
tation grows, acid is formed by the roots, and if the acidity 
is not corrected and is permitted to continue, the nitrifying 
bacteria will disappear or do no work. Lime corrects it, 
and neutralizes the acid much as the water from Mineral 
Wells neutralizes the uric acid in the blood. The lime 
forms a base for the union of acids, and they become cal- 
cium carbonate or calcium nitrates, and make free food for 
plants.. 

If you have a sufficient quantity of lime in the soil it 
will not become sour, it doesn't matter how many crops of 
green manure you turn under. One should keep his land 
sweet and in proper condition, like he would his dairy 
barn for his own cows. He cannot get the best milk un- 
less he treats them like Mr. Finley does. The army of 
working bacteria will do the best work when they have the 
best surroundings. 

Saunders. I agree with you that lime should be put on 
land, and that any crop will do better when the soil has 
been treated with it. I heard at the last Farmers' Insti- 
tute that I attended a discussion as to which is the better, 
burnt lime or ground limestone. It was advanced by some 
that burnt lime was dangerous, and that too much of it put 
upon the land would burn the nitrogen out and injure the 
soil. It was said by others that ground lime was the bet- 
ter, as the lime would be leached out as was needed, and 
that Nature would adjust everything. Others said that a 
small amount of burnt lime is better. From what I gath- 
ered from the discussion I am of the belief that ground 
limestone is the better. 

Drenan. Certain parts of England are underlaid with 
chalk which is almost pure lime. In 1705, some farmers 
near Hertforshire dug down to the chalk and took consid- 
erable quantities out and put them upon the land, and 
these lands are moderately productive after a century of 
cultivation, while the lands which were not treated with 
the chalk have long since been unproductive. "Director 
Hall, of the Rothamsted Experiment Station, states that 



LIME 79 

9 

many of the farmers of the vicinity are still reaping profit- 
able crops from lands enriched by the heavy applications 
of chalk made by their ancestors many years ago." These 
applications were made of chalk as taken from the pit, and 
which was not burnt. 

Lime rock when burnt is very caustic. When dampened 
and put upon your land, it will burn like an acid. When 
too much is put upon land in this condition, it will burn the 
life out of it. Nitrogen will be released, and it will go off 
in gases. By putting lime on manure you can readily 
make ammonia, and it soon disappears as gas, and nearly 
the whole value of your manure is gone. 

If one has a very acid soil, and wants to neutralize it at 
once, then put burnt lime upon it. It should not be too 
heavy. 

I believe it is best to put raw ground limestone upon 
land. A number of experiments have been made, and they 
prove to me that ground lime rock is the better. The 
Pennsylvania Station gives the following as the results of 
its experiments: 

TWENTY YEARS' PRODUCE PER ACRE 

Oats, Wheat, a+,„rir 

Soil treatment. Corn. Stover. Grain Grain t'JI ' Hay. 

Bus. Bus. ^°°^- 

Burnt lime 699 16.5 617 17.8 318 14.6 23.6 

Ground limestone 798 18.6 733 20.4 331 16.6 29.2 

These show a greater increase when ground lime is put 
upon it than burnt lime. Indeed, the tendency of burnt 
lime is to exhaust or destroy the fertility. Director Pat- 
terson, of the IMaryland Experiment Station, says: "It 
will be noted that carbonate of lime gave decidedly better 
results than caustic lime." 

Neuffer of Germany, in his book, says that ground 
limestone should be used, and "not burned lime," for im- 
provement of soils deficient in lime. 

Porter and Grant, of the Agricultural Department of 
the County Council of Lancaster, England, report that 
ground limestone is more profitable on grass land than 
burnt lime. 

Indeed, all the authorities I can find state that ground 
limestone should be used. 



80 CORN CULTURE 

My firm belief is that the finer you have it ground the 
better. This exposes a greater surface and its activity is 
better. Suppose we take a cube two inches each way — 
depth, length, and thickness. There are four square inches 
to the side, and with six sides there are twenty-four square 
inches on the outside surface. Now let us cut this cube half 
in two each way; we now have eight cubes, one inch each 
way. There being six sides to each cube and one square 
inch to the side, we have six square inches in the outside 
surface of each cube, and with eight cubes we now have 
forty-eight square inches in the place of twenty-four in 
the first cube. So it is demonstrated mathematically that 
the greater division we have, the more surface we have. 
It would necessarily follow that the lime should then be 
ground as fine as it is possible to have it. If it were ground 
from eighty-five to two hundred mesh it would be all the 
better. There is greater surface exposed, and the ground 
rock has the better etfect upon the soil. You can get good 
results from lime rock that is not ground so finely, but I 
believe the best results come from the finest mesh. 

Here comes my foreman, ]Mr. IMoremen, and I want you 
to know his opinion of the benefits of lime. Mr. Moremen, 
I want to make you acquainted with my friend, Mr. Saun- 
ders. 

Saunders. Glad to know you, Mr. ]\Ioremen. I have 
been over the farm with Drenan, and it seems we have 
talked all about farming. We have just been discussing 
the propriety of putting lime on land, and I would like to 
know your opinion. 

Moremen. When Judge commenced to insist upon lim- 
ing his land, I thought he was going to spend some useless 
money. He was tlie owner, and got the rock, and had us 
put it on. I have been very much surprised at the results. 
I was raised in this neighborhood, and I think the land is 
hard to beat. For some reason or other the land next to 
the public road would not raise much. The water stood 
on it some and it was not well drained, but I did not see 
that it stood on it enough to hurt. 

I saw Judge one day take a two-inch auger with him 
and some paper he called litmus paper, and go out to the 
field. He took the surface soil in different parts, moistened 



LIME 81 

it, and then put this paper in it, and let it stay about three 
hours. He bored down in different parts of the field from 
a foot to two feet, and he treated these borings the same 
way. 

When the litmus paper was removed it was very red, 
and Judge said this showed the soil to be very acid, and 
that he would correct it with lime. We spread about two 
car loads of lime rock on the seven-acre tract. We then 
sowed it in alfalfa. For some reason or other we did not 
get a good stand. We let it grow up in weeds, and during 
the last week in July we turned them under and sowed the 
whole field in cow-peas, and you see what a great crop we 
have. Judge says he is going to turn them under as green 
manure and put in wheat. There is too much good feed on 
the field for us to lose, and I am going to insist upon his 
cutting it and putting it in the barn for feed. 

Saunders. I see you are as enthusiastic over lime as 
Drenan. 

Moremen. Yes, and I expect more so. My uncle owns 
about seventy acres of land four miles nearer Louisville 
than this farm. No crops in my recollection have ever 
been raised upon it. The water stood on it nearly all the 
time. It was certainly a sorry sight. My uncle keeps up 
with the times as much as does Judge. After he bought it 
he made a number of surface ditches and drained the land 
thoroughly ; he then plowed it deep and spread burnt lime 
on it, and then sowed it in timothy. I wish you could have 
seen the timothy hay he raised upon it. He sold $600 
worth from it, and you know this year was a very bad 
year to cure hay. You see why 1 have become enthusiastic 
over putting lime on land. Look what it did for our corn 
crops. I know Judge has explained that to you. He says 
he reserves that to tell folks himself. 

Saunders. Suppose I should want some ground lime- 
stone? I would not know where to secure it or what kind 
I should have. 1 should think there Avould be different 
qualities, and that some would be better than others. 

Drenan. That is so. There is more carbonate of lime 
in some rock than in others, and some are softer and more 
readily dissolved. You can find a limestone that is very 
hard and can scarcely be broken, and is almost impervious 



.S2 CORN CULTURE 

to pure hydrochloric acid or any other acid. You would 
not want to spread that on your land. While some of the 
lime would dissolve, it would not have the effect you desire. 

There is a great amount of oolitic limestone found in 
Western Kentucky. This rock is almost pure lime. In 
some places it is 99.4 per cent pure carbonate of lime. It 
is almost impossible to find it purer, and this is certainly 
pure enough for any purpose. This oolite is not found 
every place, and a large quarry of it is very valuable. It 
is made up of granular limestone, each grain being more 
or less spherical and made up of concentric coats of car- 
bonate of lime formed around a minute nucleus, usually 
a grain of sand. It is called oolite because of its resem- 
blance to the roe of a fish. Some people call it the fish-egg 
rock. 

Saunders. The trouble with us farmers is that we do 
not know the kind of rock to buy and where to buy it. 
Freight rates play also an important part, and we have to 
look after these. It looks to me like the Department of 
Agriculture ought to keep us well informed, or at least 
should be able to do so upon inquiry. For some reason or 
other they seem to be afraid to tell us the names of manu- 
facturers and how to get the product. They seem to be 
afraid to speak out, or they may think it is not prudent. 
By the time we find the kind to buy and where to buy it, 
it has become inconvenient or impossible to spread it. Now, 
where would you buy the limestone of which you were 
just speaking? I am sure I would not know where to 
buy it. 

Drenan. The Webster Limestone Company, at Irving- 
ton, Kentucky, has this kind of rock. This company has 
a large crushing and grinding plant, and a large limekiln 
for burning the rock. Irvington is forty-nine miles from 
Louisville on the Louisville, Henderson & St. Louis Rail- 
way, and is a fine country town. The company has a vein 
of this rock twenty-eight feet deep, and near the surface. 
It is very fine rock for agricultural purposes, and in my 
opinion it is the best in the whole country. If you would 
write to Mr. G. A. Park, head of the Development Depart- 
ment of the L. & N. R. R. Co., he might tell you of other 
companies closer to you. 



LIME 83 

Saunders. Let me take down the names. I want to 
order some as soon as I return home. 

Moremen. We know what lime has done where it has 
been put, and Judge is also a great believer in ground 
phosphate rock. I suppose he has told you about that? 

Saunders. He has said much about phosphoric acid 
and some little about phosphate rock, and I would like to 
know more about it. In my opinion, phosphorus is about 
the most important element to be looked after. I would 
like to hear Drenan's opinion. 



CHAPTER XVI 



PHOSPHORUS 



Drenan. In the average composition of the earth's 
crust, according to Prof. Clark, of the United States Geo- 
logical Survey, there is sufficient iron to meet the needs of 
one hundred bushels of corn every year for 240,000 years, 
sufficient calcium for 61,000 years, magnesium for 7,600 
years, sulphur for 21,000 years, potassium for 2,400 years, 
and phosphorus for only 120 years. It is said there is 
enough nitrogen in the air resting on an acre of land suf- 
ficient for the needs of one hundred bushels of corn every 
year for 700,000 years, and that there is only enough nitro- 
gen in plowed soil for about fifty years. 

We see from this that only the two elements phosphorus 
and nitrogen are likely to be soon exhausted. Both ele- 
ments are very essential, and it is impossible to raise a 
good crop without them. We can secure the nitrogen 
from the air by putting in leguminous plants and by turn- 
ing under green crops such as clover. We can also secure 
phosphorus by turning under green crops and manures. 

It is assumed as a fact that an ordinary soil seven 
inches deep contains 1,200 pounds of phosphorus to the 
acre. 

Let us suppose that we have four rotations of crops — 
two of corn, one of oats, and one of clover. 

The two crops of corn will take forty-six pounds of 
phosphorus, the oats sixteen, and the clover twenty, or a 
total of eighty-two pounds. It would then take only sixty 
years to exhaust the soil of the phosphorus. 

In countries like India, where farming is very unscien- 
tific, the phosphorus has nearly all been removed, and 



PHOSPHORUS 85 

there is left only a trace. The soil, under the very best 
conditions as to moisture, raises only a minimum crop. 

The farmer who sells his corn, wheat, and oats sells a 
large part of the fertility of the soil. The grain contains 
two-thirds of the nitrogen, three-fourths of the phosphorus, 
and only one-fourth of the potassium ; while only one-third 
of the nitrogen, one-fourth of the phosphorus, and three- 
fourths of the potassium are in the stalk or straw. 

The farmer usually keeps the stalk and straw on the 
farm and sells the grain. He then adds to the soil a greater 
proportion of potassium, when this is not really needed. 
By selling the grain, he takes away the larger portion of 
two very important elements, and if continued it neces- 
sarily leads in course "of time to soil depletion. 

You can obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere and 
from the soil, and by turning under several green crops of 
leguminous plants you can restore all necessary nitrogen. 
In doing this you should sweeten the land with ground 
limestone, and thus prevent it becoming sour. It is well to 
remember that land will stand any amount of green 
manure, or any manure, provided there is enough lime in 
it. The nitrogen can be brought to a high degree in 
amount in the soil by manures. 

Saunders. From the figures you give, and from the 
fact that you cannot get phosphorus from the air, and 
further that it must be gotten from the soil at first, you 
leave me under the impression that it is the most difficult 
element to obtain, and also that it is one of the most im- 
portant. It seems to be so limited in quantity, and with a 
possibility of its exhaustion within sixty years, even in 
crop rotation, that the question of adequate phosphorus 
retention and supply is a very weighty one for the farmer, 
and indeed a very grave one for every citizen of the whole 
world. 

Drenan. I see you have anticipated me again. It is 
a very grave matter for the whole world. People must be 
fed, and the more that can be raised on the land the easier 
it will be. On some of the fertile bottoms in India, where 
the lands are irrigated and where there is only a trace of 
phosphorus, the maximum yield of wheat is twelve bushels. 

In this country, Nature has made extensive phosphate 



86 CORN CULTURE 

fields in Tennessee, Florida, and South Carolina. When 
these rocks have been taken out and treated with acid, or 
finely ground in the rough, and then put upon the lands 
deficient in phosphorus, there has been a large increase in 
the crops. 

The manufacturer takes these rocks, grinds them, and 
tlien releases the iron and alumina by a treatment with sul- 
phuric acid, and puts them in a filler and sells the product 
as a complete fertilizer. On certain lands the crop is in- 
creased by the addition of this phosphorus. 

Some people contend that when a high-grade phosphate 
rock is ground finely and put on the land which contains 
organic matter, it will put more phosphoric acid into the 
soil in the long run, and will be better and more economical. 

In order to produce the maximum crop there must be 
sufficient phosphoric acid in the soil, and there should be 
a sufficiency to last several years. You can restore the 
phosphorus by manures made from food containing it, but 
this is robbing one soil to aid another. 

The different Experiment Stations have been trying 
to solve the problem as to which is the better, soluble phos- 
phoric acid or insoluble phosphoric acid. The soluble is 
the manufactured product treated with acid, and the in- 
soluble is the ground phosphate rock. 

Phosphoric acid in a soluble form sells in the market 
for from four to six cents per pound, while the ground 
insoluble pliosphate rock sells for two cents. If good re- 
sults can be gotten from the insoluble, it is certainly 
cheaper. 

A ton of ground phosphate rock contains from 200 to 
300 pounds of phosphorus, and a ton of acidulated phos- 
phate contains 122 pounds. The latter is made soluble by 
the acid treatment and is available at once for plant life, 
and the former must be put into soil that has a large quan- 
tity of decaying matter, and it will soon reach a chemical 
condition suitable for plant life. The high-grade phos- 
phate rock will cost $9 and you will have 300 pounds of 
phosphorus in the soil, while the high-grade fertilizer will 
cost $18 and you will have only 122 pounds of phosphorus 
in it. Is the acidulated rock worth the difference? 

The Ohio Experiment Station has well established that a 



PHOSPHORUS 



8T 



ton of ground phosphate rock, mixed with a liberal amount 
of decaying organic matter, will give practically the same 
profit per acre as a ton of acid phosphate, and it will give 
twice as much profit on the money invested. Certainly 30O 
pounds is better than 122 pounds. 

Here is a table of the Maryland experiments with dif- 
ferent forms of phosphorus: 



TWELVE YEARS WORK; YIELD PER ACRE OP THREE PLOTS 





Phosphorus Applied 


Six Corn 
.'Crops Average 


Two Wheat 
Crops Average 


Three 
Hay 

Crops 
Av. 

Tons 


Total 
Av. 


Plots 


Grain 
Bus. 


Stover 
Tons 


Grain 
Bus. 


Stover 
Tons 


Yield 
Tons 


8. 13. 18 

9. 14. 19 
10,15,20 

11,16,21 

12,17,22 


Raw Bone Meal.. 

Slag Phosphate.. 

No Phosphorus.. 
fS. C. Rock Phos- 
\ phate 

Florida Soft Rock 


39.6 
39.1 
40.0 

39.7 
42.5 


1.25 
1.22 
1.17 

1.25 
1.27 


23.6 
22.6 
12.1 

20.1 
19.9 


1.22 

1.24 

.73 

1.07 
.94 


1.85 

1.95 
1.44 

1.95 
1.89 


6.41 
6.46 
5.10 

6.26 
6.19 



We see from the above that the application of phosphate 
rock produced good results. 

The Pennsylvania Experiment Station reports that raw 
phosphate produces larger results than the acid phosphate. 

The reports from all the Experiment Stations, as far 
as I have been able to find, show that the application of 
ground phosphate rock increases the yield. You can 
spread two tons of rock for the same cost as one ton of 
acid treated. 

Director Jordan of Maine, in his 1894 report, in speak- 
ing of the increased yield because of the application of raw 
phosphate rock, says: "This is certainly one instance of 
the unmistakable persistent influence of a crude phosphate- 
in increasing the growth of a field crop." 

The supply of phosphate rock is limited. It is found 
in very few places in the United States, and unless other- 
fields are found these will be exhausted before a century- 
passes. 

There were exported from the United States in 1908^ 
1,188,411 tons of phosphate. Our phosphate fields are 
being drained for the benefit of worn-out farm lands of 
foreign countries. "We need all the phosphate we can pos- 



88 CORN CULTURE 

sibly produce in this country to help restore the havoc, de- 
vastation, and utter ruin produced by the savage onslaught 
on the fertility of the soil by our ancestors. Our states- 
men should wake up and realize they owe a duty to coming 
generations. A high enough tariff should be put on the 
exportation of raw phosphate rock and phosphate fertil- 
izers to keep them at home. 

We need these rocks to help restore the old thrown-out 
farms in Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, the Carolinas, New 
York, Connecticut, and in fact in every State in our Union. 
We should have every pound that is produced, to help re- 
store these wildernesses of desolation and to help increase 
the fertility of the acres which are not destroyed. 

1 wish that I could sound a bugle-blast that would be 
heard all over this land of ours. I would certainly warn 
all to prevent great future disaster and to do the best that 
can be done to restore original fertility. 

England draws phosphate from the four corners of the 
world. Her imports in 1885 exceeded 250,000 tons, and 
they have been increasing ever since. In 1892, the United 
States furnished her with over 200,000 tons, and in addi- 
tion she has some phosphate deposits in the form of phos- 
phatic nodules in the eastern and southern counties. Eng- 
land has increased the fertility of her soil, and has drawn 
upon the whole world to do so. Complaint has been made 
that in her eagerness for bones to enrich her soil she has 
dug up and stripped the battlefields of Leipzig, Waterloo, 
and the Crimea, and carried away the skeletons of suc- 
cessive generations from the catacombs of Sicily. By add- 
ing manures, phosphates, and lime, she has enriched her 
soil and increased her production. 

In 1890, France used 400,000 tons of phosphate, and in 
1899, 600,000 tons. Germany applied 800,000 tons during 
this last year, and in 1911 she used over 2,500,000 tons. 

All the countries of Europe have largely increased the 
fertility of the soil by the application of phosphates, and 
this has been the chief cause for the increase in the size of 
their crops. 

In Germany, the yield of wheat has risen from 12.1 
bushels per acre in the Sixteenth Century to 35 bushels in 
the Twentieth Century, rye from 13 bushels to 30, barley 



PHOSPHORUS SfT 

i'rom. J 4 bushels to 40, and oats from 14 bushels to 45. 
There has been equally as large increases in France. 

Both of these countries support a crowded population, 
and while the population has increased, the productiveness 
of the soil has also increased. 

Saimders. It is different in the United States. Our 
population has increased, but the fertility of our soil has 
decreased. There must surely be something wrong. 

Drenan. The United States stands in the front rank 
for the rapidity of soil exhaustion. A number of things 
have combined to bring this about, namely, the rapid de- 
velopment of great transportation lines has enabled the 
farmer to find a ready market for all he raises; the inven- 
tion of agricultural implements, enabling one man to do the 
work of many, and which enables him to remove much 
from many acres of soil without returning anything; the 
improvement of seed, which enables him to produce more; 
and the scarcity of farm labor, the country being deserted 
and the cities overcrowded. 

Our farmers were miners. The coal-miner takes the 
coal away, and when the mine runs out he seeks another. 
Our fathers have mined the fertility of the soil, and when 
they had exhausted it they too hunted other lands. Con- 
sequently we have agricultural ruin over vast areas of the 
older parts of our country, and rapid decreases in rich soils 
of the younger States, as Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa. 

In the abundance of our harvests we should not forget 
the famines in Russia, the hunger in India, and the star- 
vation in China, all within the last five years. May not 
this come to us, and sooner than we expect? We find ex- 
treme poverty among any people who are dependent upon 
agricultural resources of ordinary land, where the same 
has been cultivated for two hundred years. 

Soils that have run down can not be restored economi- 
cally within a year. It takes time and capital. We are 
now a rich and prosperous nation, and if we ever expect 
to restore and improve our soils we must do so while we 
are such. 

Our vast wealth of phosphate deposits must be utilized, 
and not suffered to go hence. A weighty problem rests 
upon our Government, and I believe it will be equal to the 



90 CORN CULTURE 

emergency. The protection and renewal of soil fertility 
are paramount issues, and the American people are going 
to solve them successfully. 

Saunders. You are very earnest and enthusiastic. As 
phosphorus in the soil is very limited, and cannot be taken 
from the air and must be from the soil, it looks reasonable 
that we should restore it with the ground phosphate rock, 
and especially when it can be gotten so cheaply. I want 
some, and would like to know from whom I could order, so 
as to get a pure article. 

Vrenan. You can order it from the phosphate com- 
panies at ]\[t. Pleasant, Tennessee, and no doubt the post- 
master there could give you their names. You can also 'buy 
it from Wood, Stubbs & Company, Louisville, Kentucky, 
Southern Seed Company, Louisville, Kentucky, the Hall 
Seed Co., Louisville, Kentucky, or any good seed company. 
Be sure and get the high-grade phosphate rock, even though 
you have to pay more. 

Saunders. It is nearing the close of the evening and I 
must reach liouisville in time to take the C. & 0. train for 
Lexington to-night, and as you have promised to take me 
in your automobile, I expect we had better be going. 

Drenan. I would like for you to stay longer, but as 
you say you are compelled to go, I will bring around the 
machine and by that time Mrs. Drenan will be ready and 
we will soon be in the city. 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE GERM THEORY AND THE STATE PAIR 

Saunders. I have spent a most delightful day, Mrs. 
Drenan. I enjoyed your dinner, and I was more than 
pleased to learn something about your success at canning. 
Mr. Drenan and I have talked farming, politics, and reli- 
gion. He says he intended to go to his office to work to-day, 
and as he did not go, and devoted the day to me, I feel 
very much complimented. He insists upon my staying all 
night. I cannot do this, and will be compelled to take the 
C. & 0. train for Lexington so I can reach home over the 
I2. & N. early in the morning. 

3Irs. Drenan. I know Mr. Drenan has enjoyed your 
visit, and I expect to hear him speak frequently and 
pleasantly of you. Such visits are like sunshine — they 
bring much joy and happiness. 

Drenan. As you are compelled to reach the train by 
six o'clock w^e will hurry along, and you will be surprised 
how quickly we will reach the depot. 

Saunders. You certainly have a good farm, but a per- 
son has to know how to manage the land before he can get 
the best results. Drenan certainly knows how. He has 
treated the south side of the field here with lime, the north 
side with manure and phosphate, and the field just beyond 
with a prepared fertilizer with potash predominating. The 
magnificent crops show his good judgment. Any man who 
knows how to do this is capable of managing thousands of 
acres, and it would certainly be a good investment for a 
man with large capital to go into partnership with him. I 
believe he could make large sums of money for himself and 
a partner. What do you say about it, Drenan? 



92 CORN CULTURE 

Drenan. You know how to make any one feel good, 
and I appreciate your high opinion. I farm because I love 
the science. It is fascinating. A number of my friends go 
every Saturday afternoon to the Country Club and to the 
Audubon Club and play golf. This is good recreation for 
tliem, and as they enjoy it, it is right for them to go. I 
spend my Saturday afternoons on the farm, playing farm- 
er. It may not be any more profitable than the golf game, 
but I assure you I enjoy it much more than I would golf. 
I believe that in my recreation I can do good for myself 
and others. I try to make two blades of grass grow where 
only one grew before. This has become a passion with me. 
I love the opening bud in spring, I rejoice with the waving 
wheat and rye, and I adore the golden grain. 

I have seen the abandoned and worn-out lands in the 
black belt of Alabama, and an almost irresistible impulse 
came over me to go and caress and even sympathize with 
them in their loneliness and to feed them back to life. In 
my imagination I could see them once more spirited, run- 
ning a rapid speed, like a high-strung thoroughbred. I 
have always felt the same tenderness and affection for the 
lands I owned as I did for the old family horse that carried 
safely my wife and babies. It is no more a shame to let 
the milch cow go hungry than it is to starve and impoverish 
the land that sustains you. 

Mrs. Drenan. Do you see that fine building on the high 
hill to your right ? That is the Tuberculosis Hospital. The 
consumptives of Louisville are brought here and treated 
scientifically. They live and sleep in the open air, summer 
and winter. You have no idea how many patients have 
been cured. I hear the doctors are making some wonderful 
cures. 

Saunders. We may abuse doctors, but the very mo- 
ment we become sick we certainly want one, and the public 
laws should so safeguard us that only competent physicians 
should be permitted to practice. 

Drenan. A conscientious, high-minded, and thoroughly 
trained physician is an important factor in our modern 
civilization. Physicians are self-sacrificing and anxious to 
benefit humanity. 

Dr. Carroll Reid discovered that the yellow-fever germ 



THE GERM THEORY AND THE STATE FAIR 93 

was carried by the mosquito and gave his life to demon- 
strate the fact, and now yellow-fever epidemics in Havana 
are matters of history. 

Dr. Thomas B. iMcClintock discovered that the Rocky 
Mountain spotted fever was caused by the woodtick, and he 
too gave his life as a ransom. Since then this dreadful 
scourge in the great West has been wiped out. 

The Panama Canal was made a possibility through the 
efforts of Dr. Williain G. Goggess. He turned the most 
unhealthy region in the world — a valley of sickness and 
death — into one of the healthiest, and made it easy for Col. 
Goethals to dig and construct this gigantic piece of en- 
gineering. We should certainly erect a monument in the 
most commanding place to perpetuate the doctor's memory 
and to show our gratitude for his devotion and valor. 

Saunders. The medical profession has certainly made 
great discoveries within the last twenty-five years. A child 
of one of my neighbors was saved from a dreadful death 
by injecting a serum for membranous croup. A few years 
ago the child could not have been cured. Diphtheria is no 
longer dreaded. I see that typhoid fever is being con- 
trolled among the soldiers in the United States army. This 
is certainly a wonderful age. I read in my home paper not 
long ago that the great advancement of medical science was 
due to the discovery of the germ theory. I heard Drenan 
say one day that he had a case in court where he had to 
become thoroughly posted on the germ theory. You know, 
Mrs. Drenan, lawyers have to post themselves fully on a 
subject which is being tried in court, so as to examine wit- 
nesses in a competent manner. I have often wondered how 
they knew so much, as they cross-examined oftentimes doc- 
tors, and learned doctors too at that, in such a way as to 
indicate they knew more than the doctors. 

Drenan. You are nice in saying something pleasant 
about lawyers. Tliey are usually looked upon as necessary 
evils. I believe that a conscientious lawyer is a very high 
type of citizen. 

I have given bacteriology some study, but not enough 
to say that I know anything about it. I do not see why 
doctors did not discover the bacteria theory before they 
did. The profession has always been composed of learned 



94 CORN CULTURE 

men. It was left for the latter part of the last century to 
make this great discovery. 

The first complete study of contagious affection was 
made by Pasteur in 1869, which he showed to be due to 
microorganisms, Koch, in 1875, discovered the anthrax 
bacillus, and described its spores and the properties of 
same, and he cultivated the germ in artificial media. Pas- 
teur and his pupils then followed this up by inoculating 
the germ from pure cultures in animals. 

From this time on, bacteriology has assumed large pro- 
portions and has become a great science. The whole world 
has been benefited, and will continue to be by the earnest 
work of thousands of men in the study of diseases. 

Bacteria are cells, and can only be seen through a pow- 
erful microscope. These bacteria may be of any shape; 
some are round and some are cylindrical. Each disease 
seems to have different-shaped bacteria. They multiply by 
division, so that one bacteria is soon capable of multiplying 
into millions. The cultures are grown, then colored, and 
then thej' can be seen through the microscope. Dr. Koch 
describes the tuberculosis bacilli as being very slender, 
about one-quarter of the size of the red corpuscle's diam- 
eter, with ends rounded, usually solitary but oftentimes 
lying in pairs in such a manner to form an acute angle, 
and they do not possess self-movement. A doctor experi- 
enced in bacteriology can then very easily diagnose tuber- 
culosis. Typhoid fever has a peculiar germ with little 
arms, or flagella, on the sides. When they are once seen 
you never forget them. 

Saunders. Then diseases are nothing more or less than 
the result of one life living upon another? It looks like 
it is absolutely necessary for successful physicians to thor- 
oughly understand bacteriology to diagnose diseases and to 
treat them. 

Drenan. Yes, and I believe that the medical profession 
in the future will not graduate a doctor from the schools 
unless he has become skilled in this branch. 

Since diseases are contracted by coming into contact 
with the particular bacilli, we should all have some knowl- 
edge of this great science. The common drinking cup has 
gone, and the common towel is soon to follow. ]Many dis- 



THE GERM THEORY AND THE STATE FAIR 95 

eases can be prevented by having a knowledge of this 
science, and in my humble opinion this subject should be 
taught in our public schools. Cut out so much Latin and 
Greek, or some other things, and have the children study 
more chemistry, physiology and hygiene, and bacteriology. 
There is something radically wrong in the course of study 
in our public schools. I saw a woman get on the street car 
the other day, and she took a nickel from her pocketbook, 
put the nickel in her mouth, then closed her pocketbook, 
and put it back into her hand-bag. She did not know with 
what disease the nickel had come in contact, and she did a 
very wrong act. Now if that woman had knowledge of the 
germ theory, I am sure she would not have acted so. It is 
said that diseases of the teeth can be communicated by kiss- 
ing, as well as other diseases, and yet kissing is very 
fashionable indeed. I know of a dreadful disease being 
communicated to another by smoking the same pipe another 
had smoked. 

Mrs. Drenan. I know if you get Mr. Drenan started 
talking about schools he will talk you to death on that sub- 
ject. Some five years ago, I heard him say that the drink- 
ing cup as used was a menace to health, and that it would 
soon be prohibited. Pie is a great believer in manual train- 
ing schools, and if I am not mistaken he predicts that this 
will be added to the curriculum of every school. 

Drenan. Yes, I believe every girl should be taught how 
to cook and make dresses, and should be taught domestic 
science in full. The boy who is going to be a farmer 
should be taught the practical and theoretical side of it. 
When he graduates or quits school he should be an expert 
in cattle judging, know all about horses, as well as having 
a thorough knowledge of cultivation. 

Mrs. Drenan. I knew we would get him started. Mr. 
Saunders, over to your left is the State Fair grounds. I 
am sorry that the people of the State do not take a deeper 
interest in the Fair. I took my canned goods to the Fair 
this year. I felt it to be a duty. I believe every individual 
citizen should do what he or she can do to make this Fair 
a big success. Mr. Newman, the Commissioner of Agricul- 
ture, is an able man, and one who desires to do his duty to 
the State. Don 't you think you should bring some exhibits 



96 CORN CULTURE 

down to the Fair next year? If there was a State-wide in- 
terest in the Fair, it would be a grand success. "We must 
all help Mr. Newman. I intend to do what I can, anyway. 

Drenan. I see that some one else can talk on a subject 
in w^hieh she is interested. I can agree with you in every 
word you have said. 

Here is Louisville. It has not taken us long to come. 
Louisville is destined to be one of the great cities of the 
country. It is certainly growing very rapidly. We have 
in this city as high a type of citizenship as any you can 
find. Its geographical position, linked as it is to the world 
by a number of trunk line railroads and a large navigable 
river, give it a commanding position which will aid it in 
becoming one of the large cities of this continent. 

Here we are at the depot, and in plenty of time for your 
train. I am sorry to see you leave, and wdsh you could 
spend more time with us. 

Saunders. I have enjoyed the day very much, and in 
saying good-bye to you, ]\Irs. Drenan, I want to express my 
appreciation for your nice dinner and your instructive talk 
about canning and the State Fair. I am going to try and 
show something at the Fair next year, and I hope I will be 
able to do as well as you have done this year. 

I want you, Drenan, to write me and tell what your 
corn yields per acre, and also to explain the excreta theory 
as maintained by some of the officials of the Department of 
Agriculture at Washington, and how rotation of crops will 
maintain soil fertility. Come and see us, both of you, and 
as the train is about to leave, I will again say good-bye. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

corn raised per acre — mr. whitney 's theory of soil 
fertility 

Louisville, Ky., November 15, 1912. 
Mr. Frank Saunders, 

Poplar Plains, Ky. 
My Dear Doc : 

When you returned from Louisville you asked me to 
let you know how many bushels of corn I raised to the acre 
on the eight-acre field. It has just been gathered, and it 
has averaged a little over 100 bushels to the acre. I am a 
little disappointed, as I expected to gather at least 125. 
Considering that the field was thought by my neighbors 
to be worn out and almost worthless, I ought to be satisfied 
with 100 bushels, but to be candid I am not, and I intend 
to raise 150 bushels to the acre on this same field next year. 
It can and must be done. 

You also asked me to explain to you the theory of some 
of the Government officials at Washington in regard to soil 
fertility. 

Mr. ]\[ilton Whitney is Chief of the Bureau of Soils in 
the United States Department of Agriculture at Washing- 
ton, and in Farmers' Bulletin No. 257 he has given his 
views in regard to soil fertility. The Bulletin is a very in- 
teresting one, and you can secure a copy by writing to the 
Department and asking for it. 

The views advanced by Mr. Whitney are revolutionary, 
and are contrary to all the theories heretofore held by 
scientific men. This does not make any difference, as the 
truisms of yesterday are questioned to-day and proven false 
to-morrow. Bacteriology changed all the theories of dis- 



98 CORN CULTURE 

ease. If Mr. Whitney's theories are based upon scientific 
facts, and are correct deductions, we must accept them. 

It has been an accepted theory that soil is the product of 
completely decomposed rock. Mr. AYhitney says this is a 
mistake, and that soil "is an unconsolidated rock contain- 
ing the minerals which were present in the solid rock from 
which it was derived." Otherwise the original rock had 
disintegrated and had only slightly decomposed, and that 
this could be seen by the use of powerful microscopes ; that 
these minerals exist in clay and all soils, and that they are 
slightly soluble; that a glass tumbler ground into impal- 
pable powder and put into solution of volume of water 
equal the size of the tumbler, there should be in solution 
soluble matter of at least three per cent. He says: '"It is 
largely a matter of the amount of surface for the water to 
act upon." 

On page 10, he says : 

"In all soils there are rock particles or minerals con- 
taining phosphoric acid and potash, and in all the soil 
solutions that we have ever examined — and we have ex- 
amined hundreds of them from all parts of the country — 
you will be astonished to learn that the composition and 
concentration of the soil moisture, which is the nutrient 
solution spread throughout the surface soil of the earth for 
plants to grow in and to gather their food from — you will 
be astonished to learn that the concentration of this soil 
moisture is sensibly the same whether we examine your san- 
dy truck soils on your river necks, your sandy clay wheat 
soils on the uplands, the Hagerstown clay in the valley of 
the Shenandoah, or the black prairie soils of the "West. 
These minerals are contributing to the solution in which 
the plant feeds. As I have said, these minerals are diffi- 
cultly soluble, but they are appreciably soluble. They are 
soluble enough to maintain a solution which is amply suf- 
ficient for the plants to gather their food from." 

The surprising part of the Bulletin is on page 11, 
where he says : 

"We have taken out of the soil its own moisture and 
have actually found similar quantities of phosphates, of 



THEORY OF SOIL FERTILITY 99 

potash, of nitrates, and of lime, in the sandy soils of our 
truck region, in the 'worn-out' soils of Virginia, in the fer- 
tile limestone soils of Pennsylvania, and in the black prairie 
soils of the West." 

He also says that it is impossible to tell how little a 
plant will use of phosphoric acid or potash when all other 
conditions are perfectly maintained. He instances the case 
of the seaweed which contains iodine. The most delicate 
methods fail to detect a trace of iodine in seawater, yet the 
seaweed is able to absorb it. 

The author maintains that "the fertility of the soil is 
dependent upon four principal facts, viz., plants must 
breathe; plants must drink; plants must feed; plants must 
have a proper sanitary environment." 

He maintains that oxygen must be applied to the roots 
for their healthy growth, and that stirring the soil not only 
introduces air into the soil but permits the noxious gases to 
escape which may be given off by the plants themselves "or 
produced by bacterial action on the remains or excreta of 
plants. ' ' 

He maintains that plants must drink, and that water 
does not seek the plant, as we have always believed, but 
that the plant seeks the water — that moist soil holds its 
moisture and gives up only a small amount. He says that 
if we will take some soil having the maximum amount of 
moisture and put it into a tumbler, and then place some 
dry soil over it, and then cover the tumbler to prevent 
evaporation, we can see there is no appreciable interchange 
of moisture. He says that only the tips of the roots absorb 
water and mineral matter, and then only for a short time, 
and as they grow they soon cover with "balloon-cells" full 
of air, and this prevents further entrance of water or other 
material, thus protecting itself against its own effluvia; that 
the soil absorbs the excreta of the plant, and there is then 
healthy growth. 

I have heretofore written what Mr. Whitney thinks of 
the composition of soil. He also maintains that whenever 
"the plant takes into its substance some of the mineral mat- 
ter Prom the solution, the solid minerals in contact with 
the solution immediately dissolve, and the solution is re- 



100 CORN CULTURE 

stored to its former concentration." He maintains that 
there is no such thing as soil exhaustion, and that it is "a 
relative phrase, and resolves itself into the question of the 
rate at which the solution can recover itself." 

He maintains that plants must have sanitary environ- 
ments; that plants, like animals, throw off excreta which 
must be disposed of. He maintains that bacteria kill them- 
selves when permitted to grow too long; that the reason 
lime is good for land is that it takes care of the nitric acid 
which is formed by the nitrifying bacteria which acid would 
surely kill if permitted to stay. He says : 

"We must put something on the soil to destroy or 
change their effluvia so that the bacteria can themselves go 
on working. We must clean out the soils as we do the stalls 
in our stables. If we do not, the substances given off by 
the plants, or the substances that are formed from those 
substances by the action of bacteria, will produce acid 
substances — will produce what we call toxic or poisonous 
matters, that will themselves seriously affect if not kill the 
crop." 

He maintains that there is a "toxic material — a poison- 
ous material — in the soil," and that no amount of fertil- 
izers will correct it. This condition of soil must be changed, 
and the toxic substances thrown off by plants must be cor- 
rected or changed and we hasten this by cultivation, aera- 
tion, and by oxidation. He maintains that the fertility of the 
soil can be maintained "by arranging a system of rotation, 
and growing each year a crop that is not injured by the 
excreta of the preceding crop ; then when the time comes 
around for the first crop to be planted again, the soil has 
had ample time to dispose of the sewage resulting from the 
growth of the plant two or three years before." 

He also maintains that litmus paper will materially aid 
in telling what is needed, but that it is not an infallible 
test. That it is best to have some boxes and treat one box 
with lime, one box with ground phosphate rock, etc., and by 
actual tests see what is needed. I believe myself that this 
is really the best, but I know that litmus paper will tell 
whetlier acidity should be corrected, and for this reason 
we should use it. 



THEORY OF SOIL FERTILITY 101 

Mr. Whitney maintains that humus is organic matter 
in a most stable form — he classes it next to coal. He con- 
tends that organic matter can be converted into humus by 
aeration and cultivation, and that the very moment it be- 
comes humus it is so stable that it becomes innocuous to 
the plant. He further says that as soon as humus is formed 
it becomes harmless to the plant, and is not poisonous, but 
that organic matter in any other form may be harmful. 

He says: 

"The humus, apart from the physical effect it has in 
loosening up the soil and the absorbing effect it has in hold- 
ing water, which may greatly increase the yield of crops, 
appears to be the form of sewage disposal for the crops. 
Through the aid of bacteria or by direct oxidation the ex- 
creta thrown off by the plant are just as effectually dis- 
posed of, so far as any toxic effect they may have on the 
plant IS concerned, as if they had been thrown into the bay, 
and a soil that will produce humus is a fertile soil, because 
it is a well-drained soil so far as sanitation is concerned. ' ' 

The theories of Mr. Whitney have not been accepted by 
all scientific men, and they are questioned by such men as 
Prof. C. Hopkins, of Illinois, and by a number of the State 
Experiment Stations. 

When it is conclusively proven that Mr. Whitney is 
right, and that soil exhaustion can be corrected by crop 
rotation, all we will have to do is to send samples of soil to 
the Agricultural Department at Washington and a chemi- 
cal analj'sis will show what crop to plant to purify the soil 
of the poisonous material left by the previous crop. When 
the Department can do this we can accept the theories ad- 
vanced by the Bureau of Soils, but to be candid I must say 
they are too theoretical for me at the present time. 

This letter is already too long, and you can have a full 
discussion of the subject by sending for Bulletins Nos. 
257 and 245, and you can also secure Circular 4 from the 
Department of Agriculture at Washington, which will give 
you a complete list of all the circulars and bulletins issued 
by the United States Government, and you can obtain much 
useful information from them. 



102 CORN CULTURE 

I am looking forward with a great deal of pleasure to 
your next visit, as I am anxious for you to see some hogs I 
have bought and to know how you have made such a success 
in raising them. 

With best wishes for yourself and your family, I am 

Yours truly, 

Wm. J. Drenan. 



CHAPTER XIX 

EDUCATION — POSTSCRIPT TO LETTER 

PS. As you are much interested in educational mat- 
ters, I know you will do what you can to add physiology 
and hygiene, chemistry, and other sciences to the course of 
study in your schools. The Flemingsburg Graded High 
School is very progressive and up to date, and I expect to 
see Manual Training added for the boys and Domestic 
Science for the girls. The girl who graduates should be a 
skilled housekeeper, cook, and dressmaker, as well as thor- 
oughly drilled in English, mathematics, and geography. 
The boys should be able to design barns and build if neces- 
sary. They should be good judges of stock, know how to 
raise and mature them — in short, they should be fully 
equipped to fight the hard battles of life as soon as they 
step into the arena. This is especially necessary in agri- 
cultural districts. 

I may be wrong, but I feel that Butler in his Hudibras 
said about the right thing when he wrote: 

"Pull many a lad returns from school 
A Latin, Greek and Hebrew fool. 
In arts and knowledge still a block. 
Though deeply skilled in hie, hiec, hoe." 



CnAPTER XX 

CONCLUSION. 

This book is written in the hope that some thoughts have 
been planted which may hereafter become finished prod- 
ucts, and in the spirit of being useful to my fellowman. 
They are better expressed in the beautiful poem by Sam 
Walter Foss in 

THE HOUSE BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD 

Let me live in a house by the side of the road 

Where the race of men go by — 
The men who are good and the men who are bad, 

As good and as bad as I; 
I would not sit in the scorner's seat 

Nor hurl the cynic's ban; 
Let me live in a house by the side of the road 

And be a friend to man. 

I see from my house by the side of the road, 

By the side of the highway of life, 
The men who press with the ardor of hope. 

The men who are faint with strife, 
And I turn not away from their smiles or their tears, 

Both parts of the Infinite Plan ; 
Let me live in my house by the side of the road 

And be a friend to man. 

I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead 

And mountains of wearisome height, 
That the road passes on through the long afternoon 

And stretches away to the night; 
But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice 

And weep with the strangers that moan ; « 

Nor live in my house by the side of the road 

Like a man who dwells alone. 



CONCLUSION 105 

Let me live in my house by the side of the road 

Where the race of men go by ; 
They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong, 

Wise, foolish — so am I; 
Then why should I sit in the scorner's seat 

Or hurl the cynic 's ban ? 
Let me live in my house by the side of the road 

And be a friend to man. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



002 682 061 3 4 




